Feathered

by Damaged

First published 27th of October, 2017

McIntosh Apple thought he had gotten everything he wanted in life when he and Sugar Belle finally got together, but there was something he could never have been prepared for.

Big Mac had done it: he had beaten the competition by not playing their game, and won Sugar Belle's heart. Of course she wasn't the first mare he had ever chased; it was a stallion's prerogative (and a mare's for that matter) to play the field a little before settling down.

Did he think Sugar Belle was the mare he would settle down with? McIntosh had no clue, but it was the spice of life to find out such things. While he looked to Sugar with desire, however, Feather Bangs came to offer well wishes, and everything changed.

Contains: Stallion on stallion (as well as a little stallion on mare) (sex, cuddling, and a lot more besides), TF, a little cross-dressing, hints of mind-control, and long smooches.

Art was (and is used with permission) made by the wonderful Starry(Derpibooru user link). Thanks for editing this image to be fimfic safe, and I hope those zebras are as tasty as ever! Oh, and coverart can be found on derpibooru at ID:1526439.

To the Victor Go the Spoils

Love.

I stared into Sugar Belle's eyes, with our snouts scrunched together, and couldn't have been happier. Even "nope" and "yup" failed me as I surrendered to the mare I loved.

Of course this wasn't the first time. Cheerilee had been the previous love of my life, and then there was Caramel Apple when I was a little colt, and didn't know that family was off the menu. Was this true love? Powerful love? Was it the kind of love I could devote myself to for the rest of my life? Maybe, maybe not. But it was love that felt right now.

"Would you like to bake something with me, McIntosh?" Sugar Belle's words made my belly tighten, although I was too much of a gentlecolt to let anything lewd show.

I rubbed my nose slowly against Sugar's, and prepared my most classic, and favorite replies. "Eeyu—"

A loud knocking on the front door of Sugar's shop stopped me halfway through agreeing to "bake a cake" with Sugar Belle. Although knowing her profession, it was probably even odds as to her meaning sex or actual baking.

"I haven't got anything to sell after you and Feather demolished my shelves." The little giggle that Sugar made after nearly anything she said tickled at my ears, and I nodded to her. She walked slowly over to the front door, and opened it. "You?"

I blinked. "You?!" I took a step forward, feeling my anger boil up. Feather Bangs stood in the doorway and looked right at me. "You've got some nerve comin' back here!" Another big step, and my hooves were practically driving against the floorboards like they were a bass drum.

"I'm sorry." Feather's words caused me to freeze. They were practically the only thing he could have said that would save him from being shown how far I can buck. "I guess I got a little carried away, and I wanted to show how sorry I was for my poor behavior."

My attention was fully on Feather Bangs seemingly for the first time. All the times I had seen him before, he had been a rival, an enemy. Feather Bangs was gorgeous. His strong jaw was angled just right, putting anypony else I knew to shame. His mane looked tousled, but not messy. Mine was almost always messy, not that I worried about it too much, but his was artistically messy, and it suited him. His body wasn't as heavy as mine—of course—but neither was he slim like a mare. If there was one, single vibe about Feather Bangs, it would be "stallion."

I walked up to stand beside Sugar Belle, but didn't want to crowd her. We were in her shop, and I had forgotten that too many times—to my detriment—to risk it again. Though I wanted to stand between her and Feather, and growl out a dismissal, I had to respect Sugar.

"Show us how?" Sugar Belle's words held all the skepticism I held for any plan of Feather Bangs'.

"Well,"—Feather drew his lips up into the perfect smile—"Stereo, Glamour, and Smooth wanted to put on something special for Equestria's newest couple. Dinner, music, relaxation?" The oddest thing about him was he was spending that smile that had made mares' knees wobble on each of us evenly. "What do you say?"

"No wooing?" Sugar Belle was more on point than I was, but truth be told I would have just told him no right away.

Feather Bangs shook his head and looked to Sugar. "No wooing. No cooing. And I won't even try to kiss you." He lifted one hoof and crossed his chest. "I promise."

Sugar Belle gave him a little nod. "It was a little fun having two stallions fight over me. But I have made my choice." Her warmth pressed against my side, albeit a little lower down on my body than hers.

I looked down and to Sugar, and nodded. "Eeyup."

"Perfect." Spinning around with all the grace of a dancer, Feather Bangs trotted out of the house. "I'll send one of my boys when we are ready. Don't wear yourselves out, now." His short tail revealed more than any stallion should, but kept decency intact by a hair's breadth at most.

I felt a gentle nuzzle at my neck, and snapped my eyes from the retreating stallion's back end to look at Sugar Belle.

"I guess we're going, then." Sugar's words held a tiny fraction of surprise, but I could hear a lot more curiosity than anything else. "Might be fun!"

"Eeyup." Pulling at my thoughts, I dragged myself away from the night ahead and fixed firmly on the cute mare beside me. "What about that baking?" Her eyes lit up at my question, and she squealed fit to shatter glass.

When Sugar Belle galloped into the back room of her shop, I heard pots and pans clanging together. I wasn't sure if I was disappointed, or relieved that she actually wanted to bake.

Apple cupcakes. Apple pie. Apple tart. Apple turnover. Apple dumplings. Apple brown Betty. Apple cake. I had seen such spreads of apple products before, but I hadn't cooked them, and from what I understood it normally took more than one afternoon.

"I just love making all these things with your family's delicious apples!" Sugar Belle was prancing, and I'll be darned if it wasn't the most wonderful thing to see after what Feather and I had put her through. She practically floated from one oven to the next, and somehow never got mixed up about how long things needed to be baking for. "But there's one Apple I haven't tried yet…"

My eyes widened as I realized the implications of her words, and that she was giving me a very come hither look, helped me work out what she wanted. Carefully putting down the tray of apple brownies I had just lifted from the oven, I took two steps and we pressed snouts together again.

It might have started as a nuzzle, but Sugar tilted her head just enough that our lips pressed together. Closing my eyes made thinking about kissing Sugar Belle easier. Our lips moved and felt out their opposites, but it was a shrill, high-pitched voice that caused us to break apart.

"When're we goin' home, Big Mac?" Apple Bloom was standing in the doorway to the shopfront with her two friends behind her. "We really should be getting' home if we're gonna make it before sundown."

"Nnope. We are having an evening together." I tilted my head a little to the side, indicating Sugar Belle. "I'll take you fillies home tomorrow." I gave a firm nod, confirming that my plan was set in stone.

Three hot cookies lifted magically from the tray and began floating to the fillies. Of course, it was Sugar Belle's magic doing the lifting. "You girls can stay here tonight and look after my house. We shouldn't be too long."

On the farm, everything was done with muscle. The amount of Apples who were unicorns could be counted on four legs easily enough, and not a one of them lived at Sweet Apple Acres. Not that we would trust magic there, what with how many times Twilight Sparkle had caused a problem with hers, or the time Starlight Glimmer attempted to make friends, but sometimes a little magic would be helpful. "Eeyup!"

There was no arguing back from the Crusaders, not with mouths full of hot apple brownies. Sugar Belle sent a second floating to each filly. "Now, do you girls think you could make some waffles? I have some stewed apples left over you could—"

"Not Sweetie Belle!" I thought I was the only one who yelled it, but Apple Bloom and Scootaloo did as well.

Sweetie Belle puffed out her lower lip and looked up at Sugar Belle with dangerous eyes. Eyes that attempted to instill confidence that Sweetie Belle could cook without burning down every house in a town. "I'm not that bad at cooking…"

"We'll handle the cooking. You put the apples on the waffles." Scootaloo trotted forward and took charge of the waffle iron that Sugar Belle floated towards her. "Thanks!"

Sugar beamed at Scootaloo, and the smile was so natural and perfect I would have basked in it. "You're welcome. I wonder where our—"

"Uh, excuse me?" A voice recognizable as one of Feather Bangs' friends came from the front of the shop. "Feather sent me to let you know we are ready for you both." I looked to Sugar, and she nodded back to me.

Walking out to the front room together, I saw a pale-green-coated unicorn in a deeper green shirt and a pink cap. He had little sweatbands around his cannons, and looked nervous.

"We're coming!" Sugar Belle's voice sounded like she was almost ready to break into song, and before I knew it she had. The moment she tapped her hoof to an imagined beat, I saw the green unicorn perk up.

Sugar Belle lifted her voice. "A long day is done, and the evening barely begun." To my shock, Mr. Green tapped a hoof in time with her beat, and hummed a backing tune to it.

My eyes widened a little, and I was all set to stomp through the song and break it, but there was a twinge in my heart and my head. I opened my mouth. "A long day is through, and my evening is all for you." I blinked, not realizing I was going to sing until the last moment.

"A long day together, and thought it was stormy weather; our hearts are true, from me to you; Big Mac it's over to you!" Sugar Belle's voice was amazing, and if it wasn't for the song pulling me on, I would've stopped just to listen to her.

The oddest thing, though, was the strange unicorn. He sang softly, under our voices, and each lyric we added seemed to make him walk with more confidence. I let the song carry me, take me on a musical journey with Sugar, but when both our voices trailed off, we were at a big wagon on the edge of town.

There was a single table laid out. Candles, glasses, cutlery, and the appetizers decorated it. A purple-maned earth pony, with a white towel thrown over one foreleg, stood to one side of the table. But it was Feather who leapt from the big wagon and pranced (there was no other word for how he walked, his legs rising high with each step) over to our escort. "Glamour Trot, you sang with them?"

"Master Feather, I couldn't help it!" Mr. Green, now revealed to have the name Glamour Trot, looked worried. "I didn't meant to—" I blinked at the full-lipped kiss Feather Bangs gave Glamour Trot. Their snouts met, their lips collided, and I watched as Glamour's eyes fluttered closed.

But it was a short kiss, despite the ferocity it seemed to embody. "I know they both sing well. You supported them?" In response to Feather's question, Glamour could only weakly nod, his eyes barely open. "Good. Good."

Feather Bangs spun to face Sugar and I, and I felt as if he were appraising us, looking for something an ordinary pony wouldn't see. When I blinked, my mind decided to remind me of what he had done only a moment earlier. His kiss had been so sudden, sharp, that he could have dived forward and embraced Sugar Belle or myself before either could react.

"I trust you enjoyed your walk? Would you like to take your seats? The meal is about to begin." A glint shone from Feather Bangs' eyes, and I—being my sister's brother and all—thought I could detect a hint of humor at something he wasn't saying in them. "Stereo Mix, Smooth Vibes? Please see to our guests!"

Purple Mane had bowed when Feather said "Smooth Vibes" which left the brown-furred pony as Stereo Mix. Smooth circled around and pulled out the chair closest to me. Feeling as awkward as ever, I climbed on the seat and leaned forward a touch so Smooth could push it in behind me. Across the table, Sugar Belle had just received similar treatment.

"This is really nice." Sugar looked across the table at me, and all over again I fell for her gaze.

I stared back, at Sugar, and the first thing I could think of to say, of course, was, "Eeyup." My hoof moved on its own, and I picked up one of the little bread sticks that were on the table. Munching on it, I was enthralled by Sugar Belle, and didn't notice when a bowl of soup was set before me.

"The first course should impress, with simplicity not excess." Feather Bangs' line could have been a lyric, and probably was for all I knew. I looked at the soup, and inhaled. Potato and leek. A soft sound came from the wagon, and it took me a moment to realize it was Glamour Trot playing a slow tune on a guitar. But it wasn't until Feather started to sing that I felt my heart lift in delight.

"You two were apart, but when you fell from that cart; I could see you were destined to be, but my heart was too blind to see." Feather Bangs' music made it easier to just relax and eat. We didn't need to speak, it would have ruined the song if we had. Before I knew it our main course was gone, and dessert too, but Feather kept singing. "Now I don't want to separate you, but my friends want to see you two; they want to feel everything about you, and take what they love and need too."

I slowly got up on wobbly legs. I couldn't think too clearly, but Smooth Vibes led me away from the table, to a tree not far away. My heart seemed to beat faster, and though I knew Sugar was walking the other way, with Stereo Mix, I didn't feel alone. I turned to look at Sugar Belle, but a small noise from Smooth drew my attention back. I turned to face him, and our lips met.

Stallions had never seemed sexy to me. Stallions were big and strong, tough to boot. I liked softer ponies, mares, but Smooth Vibes was soft. His kiss was like silk, like—like somepony I had kissed recently.

"Why don't you lay your head down, throw away that frown; and leave your worries back in town?" Feather Bangs' voice wafted, carried by the guitar Glamour played.

Looking at the stallion—still kissing me—I made a deep, soft noise in the back of my throat. Our lips parted, but only so I could lay down on the soft cushions that were scattered around. I had never been so close—so intimately close—to another stallion before. Smooth lay down before me so that we were close enough to kiss again. I opened my mouth, but forgot what I was going to say a moment after his lips found mine again.

I groaned this time, my voice sounding needy even to me. I tried to push my tongue forward, to taste him, but he was ready for that. The warm, exotic taste of Smooth's tongue slipped past my defenses, and I felt him work around in my mouth. Closing my eyes, I didn't see when he lifted a hoof to my shoulder, and the sound of singing and a guitar made what little protest still existed in my head go silent.

He moved. I moved. I was positioned onto my back, and Smooth Vibes stood over me. I couldn't open my eyes until he broke the kiss. His tongue pulled back last, tugging free of my mouth. I tried to say something, I tried to open my eyes, but I seemed to have no control.

Smooth laid little kisses down my neck, more insistent ones down my barrel, until he found his target. I couldn't say a word, but I could groan in bliss when he kissed the head of my shaft. I was barely free of my sheath—still quite soft—but Smooth worshiped me. Bathing my length in more attention, I whimpered when he started to go lower. I wanted more, I wanted him.

One of my balls was suddenly somewhere tight, warm. I squealed like a filly as I felt Smooth work my left testicle around in his mouth, sucking on it, and humming to Feather Bangs' song. The tightness was gone, and I heard Smooth make a happy sound. He quickly repeated his adoration on my other ball, and again got me to squeal in delight.

I had never, in my whole life, felt as good as Smooth made me feel. When he let go of my scrotum and inched up my body so that his face was in view, I couldn't help but lean up to nuzzle at him. I was just about to fight the song and say something, when I felt him under my tail. My eyes widened in surprise, but the music was so relaxing, so calming. It wasn't cheating if he did it to me.

The end of what I assumed was his shaft pushed at my tail-hole. I arched my back and squirmed in an odd mix of delight and adoration. I wanted him. I needed him. It wasn't just about the imminent sex, I just wanted to be near Smooth, Glamour, Stereo, and Feather. Especially Feather. His was the voice in my ears, as Smooth Vibes pushed himself into me.

I wanted to yell, to scream, to beg for more, and to tell him to never stop. But my voice was silenced to mere grunts and groans. I couldn't say a word, not that it mattered. Smooth lived up to his namesake, and with a long, consistent thrust, was pressing his groin to my rump.

Smooth Vibes was so much smaller than me, but somehow he seemed every bit the stallion. He proved his maleness in a most ancient and animalistic way, he started the most carnal of acts. I whined as he pulled back, and huffed as he thrust home. His shaft was smooth, and felt slick enough as it could glide all the way in without a hint of soreness—although that could be the size difference too.

Between our barrels, my own shaft was being rubbed constantly by Smooth's motions. I wished I could have lasted longer, but each of those long strokes created an inferno of pleasure, and the firestorm seemed to rush forward, right into my shaft.

I screwed my eyes closed when I felt the fire deep in my body focus. It was a storm of lust, and each thrust Smooth Vibes made banked it higher and higher. Feather's song stole my attention. Calming notes eased me back from my edge, and held me in place.

My orgasm was paralyzed, trapped in the song that trapped me. I wanted to fight it, to struggle to regain control, but Feather Bangs had already sung that right from my head. I looked down at Smooth's face, and when a hot rush of fluid warmth rushed into my rear, I kissed his lips, and orgasmed.

I stared up at the evening sky. My sides were heaving, and despite the pressure of Smooth atop me, I didn't feel trapped at all. Liberated, free, and safe, sure, but not trapped. It wasn't the first time I had gotten off, of course, and wasn't even the first time I had been with another pony, but Smooth Vibes was the first stallion I had ever been with.

Tilting my head down, my lips were met by Smooth's, and I felt like I had no inhibitions. The feel of a stallion atop me, inside me, kissing me... My mind couldn't help but call up Feather Bangs' form, how perfect and masculine he had looked.

A prod at my lips stirred me back to the moment, and I opened my eyes to see Smooth Vibes pressing his tongue past my willing lips. He tasted me, he stretched his tongue and tried to fill my mouth as he filled my rear.

With any hint of an inhibition lost in the sea of music Feather and Glamour wove, I started to whimper and mewl for more. The kiss broke with Smooth pulling his tongue back out, and then he started to slide down my body.

The heavy, stretching mass left me, and I keened for its loss. Soft lips paraded and marched down my barrel and stomach, cleaning my fur and making me writhe in anticipation. His lips made contact with my softening length, and I arched my spine and moaned, but he didn't stop there. Each touch of his mouth trailed down my length, then over my balls, and finally he crossed my perineum.

I gasped in delicious bliss when Smooth's tongue caressed around my anus. The noises I made had nothing to do with polite company, and everything to do with my surrender to lust. Whinnies, grunts, and even bellowing wuffs issued from my mouth; I was an instrument that Smooth Vibes was playing, and he played me well.

"You're having fun?" In my deliriously happy state, I barely recognized Feather Bangs' voice. I opened eyes I didn't know I had screwed shut, and saw his lips come down to mine. Smooth Vibes had been a good kisser (in my limited knowledge of stallion-kissing), but Feather was amazing. Softer sounds than I ever thought I could make bubbled up and spilled from me. He was hungry, and my mouth was meal—his playground. I never wanted another pony as much as I wanted Feather Bangs right then, and I felt something rise up inside me.

"You want this, you want more." The way Feather spoke, I didn't know if it was a question or a command. I didn't care, either way he looked to continue. "You are a curious stallion, my crunchy little apple. Your flavor is divine, but there is more to you."

His lips were brushing mine as he spoke, leaving the conversation as more of an extended kiss than anything else. Even as Smooth Vibes pressed his tongue into the hole he had claimed moments ago, I had all my attention on Feather Bangs.

"You intrigue me, my delicious apple. Stay with us tonight. Stay with us and we can explore more things." Feather's words were like liquid silk. I gave the smallest of nods, and while part of my mind tried to remind me that there was somepony else who I should check on, another kiss from Feather banished that voice.

I tried to get up and follow Feather, but another lick that ended with Smooth's tongue inside my anus felled me. I gave a soft whine and looked down at Smooth Vibes. Feather Bangs saved me from my fate. "Smooth, ease up for now. I am sure after a little chat my little apple's butt will still be there for the licking." Smooth backed off, and I scrambled to my hooves, feeling like a foal again.

Walking towards the wagon where Glamour Trot's music still originated from, I realized how much smaller than me the other stallions were, how much sleeker. Despite the size difference, there was nothing feminine about them.

"If you can focus on Feather, I will pick up where I left off." Smooth spoke so softly, and somehow in time with the music, leaving me buzzing with excitement for what I would find within. I wanted Feather so much—to feel his touch, to feel him—that I practically jumped into the wagon.

Inside the large wagon seemed a completely different world to outside. Stereo Mix was already reclined beside Glamour Trot, and the two were kissing while Glamour's magic kept a guitar playing. Smooth Vibes had prepared a soft-looking pile of cushions to one side, an obvious depression in them just in front of him being the perfect spot where I could lay down and let him have at my rear.

But the far end of the wagon was where my eyes were captured. Feather Bangs was getting dressed. That is, he was dressing himself. Long, sheer stockings pulled up his back legs, clipped to a garter belt just forward of his hips. He turned and looked over his shoulder at me, and my heart thudded faster and faster.

"Somepony likes looking pretty, too." Feather Bangs turned around fully and walked up to where my spot was. The way he folded himself down would mean I could lay my head across his back legs.

I moved, the music dictating my steps, and when the spot that had been prepared for me was under my belly, I carefully sank down. Immediately, two things happened: Feather Bangs reached a hoof to my head, stroked my mane, and guided me to lay across his lap; and Smooth Vibes worked his head under my tail again. I was completely okay with both of them.

"I can read ponies, my little apple. I can read them and know their deepest desires from a glance, but you have hidden depths." As Feather Bangs spoke, he gently stroked my head.

Behind me, Smooth returned to his prize, and started circling my anus again with his tongue. The dance his mouth performed on me made my legs go limp, and my mind melt.

"Mysteries intrigue me, my little apple. What is it about a pony in stockings that had your blood pump so hard that your member struck a beat upon your belly?" The question Feather asked me unlocked something, and I hadn't even realized I couldn't talk. Not that it mattered, I hardly ever have anything to say, and tonight that went double. "Tell me."

The command broke through my stoic silence, and I opened my mouth. "Ah like wearin' soft things." Dozens of times where Applejack had cooked up some contest or another came to mind. "She knew what Ah liked; it was why we were always making with the silly challenges. I lost a lot. I never knew where she got the things, but somehow Applejack always had a dress in my size, or a bonnet."

Feather Bangs made a happy sound deep in his throat. It was a rewarding sound, and it had a positive effect on me. "Soft things. Dresses, stockings. Your sister must love you." The little voice that didn't like Glamour's music screamed at me, telling me that I had said things that I hadn't meant to. It was silly, of course I was happy to tell Feather everything.

I adjusted my back legs a little, and lifted my tail as high as it would go to allow Smooth Vibes free rein. "She's the best, but Ah never fit into the nice things, not since I got my cutie mark." A brief flare of annoyance for my destiny-defining cutie mark rose, and was quelled at Feather's touch. If I was a cat, I knew I would be purring.

"You are a big apple, aren't you? Have you ever thought of talking to somepony about changing that? You could be an adorable, bite-sized apple… with a little magic." My ears perked forward, straining at the words Feather Bangs was saying. I wasn't sure I followed, but he seemed to suggest that somepony could change me, and make me smaller.

"But then Ah couldn't pull the plow and do all the heavy work on—" A stroke to my head stopped my mouth, and I let out a little sigh. Smooth's tongue was swirling around and around inside me, the pattern almost hypnotic in its consistency.

"You live on a farm with your family?" Feather's words earned a nod from me. "And haven't any other apples ever taken some time away from the farm?" My mind rolled over the longest time anypony had been missing, when Applejack had been gone before Twilight Sparkle came to town, and to every time since that something had taken her away for a day or more. Apple Bloom had helped, and we had kept up with the work. I nodded to him.

Feather Bangs didn't say anything—he didn't need to. My mind raced, and I realized that in all the years since Applejack had been going on her adventures, I had barely been away from the farm for a day at a time. And even the times I was away, I was usually doing stuff for the farm.

Smooth Vibes' nose pressed in firmly to the strip of skin between my dock and my anus. I could feel the wind of Smooth's breath as he breathed in my scent. Knowing that another pony could have such enjoyment just from pleasuring me was a big boost.

"My big apple, I could do this for you." Feather leaned down and pressed his lips to the top of my head. It was a simple touch, but somehow more intimate than what Smooth Vibes was doing. I trembled, and felt his mouth press closer to my left ear. "But you will have to join us. The magic takes time."

I wanted to tense up in shock. The offer was a literal dream-come-true, if Feather could do it. But despite my shock, I simply couldn't break the grip of relaxation the music, and the stallions, held me in. I opened my mouth, but didn't know what I was going to tell him.

"Don't give me an answer now, my big apple. Tonight is for pleasure, and tomorrow you have to take those precious fillies home." Feather spoke right into my ear, right into my heart. "A week from tomorrow, if you haven't come to me with your answer, I will have it."

If Feather Bangs had loosened the grip his music held on me just a fraction, I would have begged him to let me stay. I opened my mouth again, but something was blocking words from coming out. Something caught my attention, though, and I refocused my eyes to look at a hefty, green shaft.

Glamour Trot had turned just so, still kissing Stereo Mix, but now his penis hovered just before my nose. A strong, musky scent filled me, and my eyes drifted half closed at how good the unicorn smelled. Opening my mouth, I extended my tongue as far as it would go in the hope of wrapping around him.

I barely managed to stroke the underside of Glamour's length. The taste was just as strong and virile as his musk had promised. I squirmed a little, but with Smooth Vibes maintaining a grip on my plot, and Feather Bangs stroking my mane, I had very little play. Glamour's shaft almost touched my snout now, but I still couldn't secure it.

The music settled into a new beat—a slower beat—and though my thoughts slowed with the song, it was paced just right for my tongue to lap at him. It was so easy to just relax and let the music guide me. I could lick at Glamour, let Feather Bangs pet me, and still surrender to the all-prodding tongue of Smooth Vibes.

Desire for the stallions swelled ever higher, and the only thing I lamented was not being able to reach Stereo Mix. Though my thoughts became fuzzy, the sensations never would.

Time to Think

I'm not stupid. Living in a town with Princess Twilight Sparkle as its librarian meant that I have a library card, and spending some spare time in the Golden Oaks Library had become that thing to do on a slow afternoon. Stories always seem to write about wakin' up as being a slow process, and not realizing what recent events had happened, or even waking up cuddled against somepony you don't know. This was nothing like that.

Mornings were not something I feared. I woke up remembering every naughty thing I had done. The feel of Smooth Vibes' tongue seemed to still tickle around my tail-hole, and I could easily remember the unique smell and taste of two different stallions' shafts—Smooth and Stereo—as well as the musk of Glamour's dock.

It had been fun; it had filled me with pleasure and happiness to give and take with Feather Bangs' friends, and it still did. I knew I wore a smile that would rival Princess Twilight's when she was reading a good book. The thought filled me with melancholy; Ponyville seemed so very far away.

"Feeling confused? Not sure how you got here?" Feather Bangs' voice was right by my ear, and as I turned to him, his lips moved to touch mine. Adoration filled me, and I couldn't even imagine Ponyville anymore. His lips were soft, and he made a hungry little groan that made me tingle in desire.

The press of Feather's tongue at my lips was met with no resistance. I relaxed, letting him explore me, and couldn't stop my own hungry little sounds. My voice, deeper than his, was no less wanton. I lapped at his tongue, with my larger one, and heard a happy purr come from Feather. Just hearing him happy made me happy too.

When our lips broke, it was like climbing out of a lake. The perfection of our embrace sloughed away and revealed the world to me. I smiled and licked from one side of my mouth to the other, and tasted Feather's lips still there.

Feather wore the smuggest smile I had ever seen on a pony, and considering I had seen Flim and Flam win a bet, that was saying something. He reached a hoof to my mane and gently brushed it aside from my eyes. "Not going to comment? I am told I am a good kisser." His smile only grew

"Nnope." It felt good to be able to use one of my favorite responses. Since I had started reading more—nopony would dare have a library card to Princess Twilight's library and not use it—I had found myself growing more affluent with my words again.

I blinked in surprise when Feather started to laugh. "You couldn't stop singing songs for Sugar Belle yesterday. You're welcome, by the way." Feather stroked my mane again, and the touch sent a shiver up my spine.

"Welcome? What for?" I couldn't stop from leaning into his touch, and heard a little rumble come from his throat as he felt me do so. "You were fighting over her…"

"You would have been making moon-eyes at her for the rest of your days. You needed something to push you, to make you realize what you were about to lose." Feather's hoof stroked my mane, and wound up playing with one of my ears. "But there was a problem with what I did.

"I found perfection." Feather's voice held a measure of awe that I had not heard often. "You love the music, you love companionship,"—I tilted my head to see Feather's face held a wide smile—"you love my boys. And you want something more from life." He leaned down and kissed my forehead; I didn't know what to do but sit still. "And here I am, offering a pony the chance to join us. Again."

The phrasing intrigued me. "What're you mean, 'Again'?" I didn't pull back from his casual toying with my ears and mane, it was just too nice. He looked down at me as if I was something amazing, and for the first time in my life an affectionate look like that didn't make me nervous.

"Stereo Mix, Glamour Trot, and Smooth Vibes; they weren't always with me. They had dreams of what they wanted from life, but were trapped doing things that wouldn't let them truly be who they want to be." Feather ran one hoof down from my ears, tracing my mane, and all the way to the middle of my back. "You could be amazing."

"What—" My voice came out harsh, loud. I tried to get myself back under control, but that was not to be; Feather repeated the stroke again and again. Each time his hoof delicately traced along my spine I could only make a soft whimper.

"You have a week. Take your sister and her friends home, think things over, and tell them you are coming back to me." Feather's tone implied that this was the only thing I could do, not that I felt trapped by it (it was nothing like the time Starlight Glimmer had used her magic on me). "If you aren't back in a week, I won't be here, and you will not find us again."

The ultimatum locked up my throat even tighter. I wanted to tell him I would do it, that I wanted him to help me now. All I could do was nod slowly.

"Silly, big apple. You can't decide now, you have to take your sister home, and tell your family you are going. I won't foalnap ponies away in the night." Feather stopped his stroking, leaned down, and pressed his mouth to my ear. "No matter how much you beg." A soft sound in my throat broke loose.

"What will you do?" Feather had just told me all the things I had to accomplish, and I needed to hear him say what he would do for me. The sex had been good, amazing, but it wasn't why I was really here still.

"You are too big to play with, my apple. I would make you more supple. I would reduce some of this mass down, keeping you very masculine, but compact. Not a pony would doubt you are still a stallion,"—Feather's lips brushed my ear—"even if you wore a ballgown and a circlet."

The outfits that fit me were huge, caricatures of cute dresses. I loved to feel soft fabric on my fur, and longed to wear something truly girly, but my size had been against me ever since I got my cutie mark. Closing my eyes, I imagined myself as slim and perfect as Feather Bangs, and wearing one of the famed Princess Dresses. I was back to the point of wanting to beg him to take me, but at that moment he pulled away completely.

"It is your choice, McIntosh Apple." Feather Bangs, when I opened my eyes and looked for him, was standing at the door of the wagon. The sun was just rising in the window, and scattered around the bed I was on—that took up fully half of the wagon—was Stereo, Glamour, and Smooth.

I knew that trying to get up would stir them, and even as I moved a hoof I saw eyes open around me. Not a single one of the other stallions held any accusation in their eyes, only interest. "I—I'll be back, before a week." With my new friends all awake, there was no reason to attempt stealth. Slipping off the bed, my hooves hit the floor with a loud thump.

"The perfection you seek is not impossible, my big apple." Feather Bangs tossed his head a little, showing off his amazing mane; I ached to rush to him and kiss it. "But you have important things to take care of. Come back, and let me brush away all that isn't perfect."

I walked past him, struggling to compact myself down to fit past without brushing against him. At the last moment, he shifted so that his flank rubbed down my own. Outside, the world seemed different, not as magical as it did inside Feather's wagon. "You'll be here? You won't leave early?"

"Not even if the Royal Canterlot Guard themselves, or even all the ruling alicorns, were after me. I will wait for you, McIntosh." Feather leaned down from the wagon and closed his eyes. His lips were so inviting I couldn't stop myself.

Turning back, I took the steps it would take to press my lips to his. It was a short kiss, with no sensuality to it—it made me long for the sanctity of the inside of the wagon even more. "I won't be late!" Turning, I galloped as fast and as hard as I could for Our Town.

I must have stood outside the bakery for nearly half an hour. How could I go inside and talk to Sugar Belle after what had happened? Shifting from hoof to hoof (something I almost never did), I finally got the courage up to head inside, and reached for the door.

The door to the bakery opened before I could touch it, and Sugar Belle was standing there, looking back at me. We stared at each other for almost a minute before something suddenly hit me: she had been with Stereo Mix while I had been with Smooth Vibes. I opened my mouth, not sure what I was going to say, when three fillies raced around Sugar and through the door.

"Hiya big brother!" Apple Bloom, I realized, hadn't noticed a thing. The tension between Sugar Belle and I seemed to be put aside, unable to be discussed with three rambunctious fillies within earshot. "Are we headin' home right now?"

"Eeyup!" I looked around for the wagon I had brought the apples to town in, not seeing it where I remembered. "Uh, where's the—"

"The wagon is around the side." Sugar Belle's voice sounded relieved to be on a safe topic. "I made a basket of things up, but after last night I…" She trailed off, her eyes flicking to the foals. "I'll get it!"

Leaving my little sister and her friends anywhere, unsupervised, was usually a bad thing. Throwing caution to the wind—and not wanting to risk being alone with Sugar Belle, I made my way as quickly as my big hooves would take me. The wagon was around the corner, in a small alley way. Backing up between the two shafts.

I barely had the saddle strap secured around my midsection when Sweetie Belle poked her head around the corner in front of me. "No! He only just got hooked up to it!"

Grinning, I started forward. Of course I forgot to remove the chocks from the wheels, but it didn't take much strain to heave the wagon's wheels over those, and I didn't want to spend the time to unhook and deal with them. "Hop in." I paused barely a moment, and to my relief Sweetie Belle did just as I asked.

I leaned against the weight of the wagon, and pulled out into the street. Turning, I saw Apple Bloom and Scootaloo taking a big basket from Sugar Belle. My heart shot into my throat again, and I almost winced at having to talk to her again. What would I say?

"H-Hello, Big Mac. I hope your trip home will be good." I saw worry on her face, almost a panic. I had been kissing her quite happily the previous day, but now I could barely look at her. She reminded me that Feather Bangs had played a part in getting us together, and that sidetracked me to thinking about Feather Bangs.

"Eeyup." My universal answer was still good, it still worked. I nodded to Sugar, and started walking away from the bakery. Just as we got out of earshot of Sugar Belle, I heard four hooves clopping along the wagon—four little hooves.

"What happened, big brother?" Apple Bloom's voice sounded worried; I could have almost cursed her growing sense of awareness. She climbed up on my back and walked all the way to my shoulders before stopping. "You weren't there when we woke up, and Sugar Belle wouldn't say where you were."

"Nnope. Ah gotta think about some things." I kept my eyes forward, walking steadily despite the weight of the wagon. I really didn't want to have this conversation with Apple Bloom, but as fast as I could have pulled, I couldn't outrun her.

"But weren't you two all in—in love?"

"Ah thought so, but something changed." My heavy hooves felt like stone weights were attached. Every part of me felt too big, too heavy, and too much for me to live with. "Like Ah said, Ah got some thinkin' to do."

I managed to deflect their questions on the rest of the walk home, but doing so meant I didn't get to think about what had happened. Trudging into Ponyville, I paused the cart. "Now y'all get to tell your families why you were gone for a day." I looked pointedly at Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo.

With just Apple Bloom left, I tugged the cart into motion again and walked us home. She was mercifully quiet now, but with her so near I still couldn't think about what had happened. "Ah need some time." I waited, and after a few minutes of still not hearing Apple Bloom jump out of the wagon bed, I heaved a sigh. "Alone, Apple Bloom. Ah need some time t' think about this, alone."

Her response, if I hadn't been so distracted, would have been foreseeable. She turned those big eyes up at me, and her lip quivered, and I had no choice but to quickly pull out of the saddle strap and gather my little sister into a hug.

"Ah just wanna know what happened? Y'all seemed so happy!" Apple Bloom started crying for real, and I couldn't let her go now. "Ya worked so hard t' be with her!"

"It got complicated." Lifting Apple Bloom up, I set her on my back and slipped into the harness again. "Ah met a stallion—"

Apple Bloom cut in. "Feather Bangs?"

I winced at her guess. "Yeah. He's really nice." I plodded around the farm, pulling the cart back to its spot beside the barn. We walked in silence, and I let my revelation sink in for Apple Bloom—and myself.

I unhitched again, and walked into the barn. Eyeing a good spot, I walked up to a big mess of hay to one side, and flopped down in it.

It was longer still before Apple Bloom spoke again. "He was kinda pretty." The words eased something inside me. My mouth pulled into a dumb smile and I nodded. "Ah didn't know you, uh, liked stallions."

Hearing her say the words struck a note in me. I was surprised at how easily she made the connection, and then at how calm she sounded. "Me either."

"His mane looked so soft. Ah wish I could have stroked it." Her comment made me remember more of Feather. His mane was beautiful, his form strong, and just his touch had sent shivers down my spine. "You alright there, big brother?"

"Nnope." Despite my protestation, I let out one of the most satisfied sighs of my life. A pair of not-so-little forelegs hugged my neck. "Wait." My mind was still slightly distracted by Feather Bangs (and a little by the memory of Smooth Vibe's ministrations), but enough was free to focus on Apple Bloom. "What do you know about stallions?" I looked at the little sister I could always remember holding on the end of one hoof, and shook my head.

"Big Mac! Ah've got a coltfriend." Apple Bloom pulled back from me aways, and crossed her forelegs over her chest. I couldn't help but tell she had the same glare her big sister did. "Ah know all about how cute they can be, and how strong, and how—"

I shoved my hoof forwards, covering Apple Bloom's snout. "Nnope!" Standing up, I turned and started marching from the barn. I could hear her protests, so kept shouting over her. "Nope! Nope! Nope!" But a thud in the back of my head stopped me short. I froze, and slowly turned.

A half a bale of hay lay on the ground beside me. I turned to stare at Apple Bloom. I let the stare linger for a few minutes before I reached down and picked up the hay.

Her voice was sharp, all kinds of corners around her tone. "Ah'm big enough to talk about colts!"

I judged the weight of the hay, and spun around as quick as I could. In truth, a full bale of hay wouldn't have been any trouble to send towards her, but I figured if she could kick a half bale, she could take it.

The hay bale barely touched Apple Bloom and she spun to send it back at me. "Ah'm growin' up, McIntosh Apple, an' there's nothin' you can do about it!"

Any anger I might have held drained, and I let the hay hit me. Turning, I walked from the barn. I needed space, and I needed to think; there was two places I knew of that would let me do both.

I spared a glance at my plow. It was huge and heavy, and would be perfect to spend all the afternoon with while I thought of what had happened. But that wouldn't work. Four hooves sounded on the ground behind me, and I knew that Apple Bloom wouldn't let me be if I were that close.

Ignoring her stomping hooves, I turned towards town and started to trot. I didn't have to glance back to know my ground-eating stride was leaving Apple Bloom behind—and soon the farm. Everything was so hard to think about there. The world outside of Ponyville seemed like a dream.

Apart from the farm, there was only one place in Ponyville that made me feel relaxed. My hooves sped up, and I broke into a canter. Soon free of the buildings of Ponyville, and the ponies staring at me running past, I saw my target. The Castle of Friendship was ahead, and I knew exactly where I needed to be.

I barely slowed for the front door; Princess Twilight had given me a library card, after all. Knocking the doors open, I charged ahead. Heavy hooves pounded, kicking up echoing clops in the long halls. The stairs were a two-at-a-time job on the best of days, today I ate four per stride. I hadn't slowed much as I raced through Princess Twilight Sparkle's castle, right up until I reached the library.

Skidding to a halt, I turned and faced the entrance. My heart beat like a jackhammer in my chest, yet I lifted my hoof to knock gently on the door.

"Coming." The Princess' voice was always calm, collected, and even—unless something was trying to destroy Equestria. Thankfully, today was a calm day, and I felt the world ease around me, slowing down more and more until the door opened.

"H-Hello. Uh…" I trailed off, realizing I had broken the most important rule. "I forgot my library card!" Panic caught me up again, and I turned to gallop back to the farm to fetch it. Only I wasn't moving. Glancing down, I saw purple magic wreathing my body.

"Big Mac, I have a spare here for you." Twilight's voice was calm, peaceful, and was just what I needed. She set me back on my—no longer galloping—hooves, and stepped back from the door. "Come inside, did you have a book in mind for today?"

"Nnope." An old word, in my lexicon anyway, and a relaxing one. I followed Twilight when she turned and walked deeper into the library, and heard the door close behind me.

"There's one that always makes me relax." She led the way to a shelf, and reached to lift the book—a thick, heavy one—down from high on the bookshelf. Holding it up, she showed me the title: Elements and Darkness: Olde Tales of Equestria.

I smiled, the book choice was perfect. Once she set the book down in a low cradle, I made my way over and curled up behind it. "Thank you." The words were courtesy, plain and simple, but I meant them from the bottom of my heart. Opening the book I had already read, I thought back to Feather Bangs and his offer.

There was more to it, there had to be. Twilight Sparkle had helped teach the ponies of Ponyville that magic never gave anything for free. There was always a price, and if the price wasn't friendship it was going to be steep.

"You're not reading that, are you McIntosh?" Had it been anypony but Twilight, I would have given them a gruff answer and run away. I just shook my head. "If you didn't want a book, why did you come here?" Curiosity was dripping off her words, but if anypony could to hear my problem, and maybe have a valid solution, it would be the Princess of Friendship.

I took a deep breath, and prepared to tell my tale. "Ah just got back from Our Town. Ah had to deliver apples to the baker there."

"Sugar Belle?" I stared at Twilight when she said the name; there was no hint of intent, apart from an inquisitive smile. I nodded in reply to her.

"It was more than just apples." My mouth had become possessed, but Starlight Glimmer was nowhere around this time. I was about to confess everything to Princess Twilight, and it felt okay. "Ah was there to see Sugar Belle too."

I watched as Twilight seemed to settle into her own pile of reading cushions a little better. Her wings fluffed a little, twitching and adjusting themselves. "What's it like getting wings?" My question was a sidetrack, but I had time; I had a week.

She smiled at the sidetrack. "It was really strange at first. I had two new limbs and I couldn't control them. It was funny, but my time going to the mirror wo—" She blushed, and gave a sigh. "I went to another world for a little bit, and things were very different there. For a start, they had so—many—books!" She closed her eyes, and somehow the alicorn Princess of Friendship became even more beautiful than she already was.

I gave her time to work over her feelings, and thought back to the tune Glamour Trot played. It had been soothing, relaxing. It had eased my mind into a place I had never known before. I realized it was a form of hypnosis, but unlike the hammer that Starlight Glimmer used—or Twilight when she was having a "moment"—the music had been pure and sweet.

"Princess, I have a question for you." Relaxed and calm, I could focus on keeping my drawl to a minimum—I didn't want to mess up any words. She opened her eyes and looked right at me; as somepony who didn't talk much, I appreciated her knowing she didn't need to say anything. "Can you transform a pony, permanently?" She had started to nod, but froze as I said the last word.

"There are items that could: The Alicorn Amulet is one. But every one of them exacts a price. It is a price nopony would wish to pay." Her eyes seemed to pierce me, digging deeply into my intent. "Why? What do you want to change?"

"I just needed to know." Deflection, and Twilight didn't deserve it—I had a feeling that Feather wasn't advertising his ability for a reason. "I went there to see Sugar Belle as well, but it was a stallion who caught my eye." I was lucky my fur was bright red, it made great blush-camouflage.

"That's great!" Twilight's reaction didn't surprise me like Apple Bloom's had. I blushed at the thought of Feather Bangs, and how soft and gentle he was. "Who's the lucky stallion?" Her question was pulling more from me than I meant to share, but I couldn't see harm in it.

"Feather Bangs. He has—he has a show. A traveling show. With some of his friends. They wanted somepony to join, and I—I need to tell Applejack, Granny Smith, and Apple Bloom." Each name was a chain binding me to Ponyville, and with each I lowered my gaze until I was staring at the floor.

I didn't hear her move—her hooves were silent, and her deceptively large wings were still—but I felt soft, magenta feathers touch my shoulders. "Big Mac, if you need somepony to stand beside you, you have a friend here."

She didn't tell me that I was making the right choice, she didn't try to give me moral guidance; Twilight Sparkle just told me that she was my friend. "Who are you? And where is the awkward Twilight Sparkle?" I held a serious expression for as long as I could before cracking a smile.

The moment my serious look broke, Twilight giggled at my joke. "That's still the Twilight Sparkle who wakes up in a castle every day and dreams of the time when she was a simple librarian. And then a handsome stallion comes into her castle and reminds her that she can be just that librarian, if only for a while. A stallion, I'll point out, who used to say a lot less and read a lot more." She squeezed a little with her wing before pulling it back. "That Twilight Sparkle is now Princess Twilight Sparkle, but this one is always here for her friends."

Knowing Twilight would support me as a friend meant more than her doing it because she was a princess. I settled back down with the book. "Thanks. He gave me a week to return, before they were going to move on. Ah have a little time."

"He sounds like a nice pony." Twilight walked back over to her own little nest of pillows and lay down. She said nothing more, focusing on her book, and letting me focus on mine.

I knew what would happen when I got home. Apple Bloom cared too much for me not to tell Applejack and Granny Smith. But it was late, and despite Princess Twilight not moving from her spot, I knew she was only staying for me.

Carefully, I placed the thin ribbon that stretched from the spine of the book into the cleft made by the pages I was reading, and as carefully as I could, closed the book. "Ah best be goin'." Aware of my ungainly body again, I pushed down with one leg at a time, rising up to my hooves.

"If you ever need to chat, McIntosh, my castle's doors are open." Twilight barely lifted her head to look at me, and I saw the eyes of a friend look up.

I nodded. "Thanks." She turned back to her book, and I realized that sitting in here all day and reading might not have been completely for my benefit.

My hooves carried my heavy frame with ease because they were the hooves of a big stallion. I used them to depart the quiet library and Twilight's castle completely. Outside, the cool breeze of evening played with my mane and tail, despite me standing still. In the few moments I loitered, the sun dropped from the sky and Princess Luna set her moon in motion.

I lifted one foreleg, and stretched it forwards. The first step was the worst, as was every single one that followed. I plodded along, keeping myself moving through the early night. With nopony about, I reached Sweet Apple Acres without stopping.

There were no lights on in the house, which suited me, so I made my way in the back door.

"Not like you to be out at this hour." Granny Smith surprised me, sitting in a corner of the kitchen—in the dark. "Somethin' the matter?"

"Ah delivered the apples to Our Town. Apple Bloom and her friends stowed along." I felt like a coward. I was avoiding even bringing it up with Granny Smith because I knew it would end up in an argument. If I had any hope of avoiding her wrath, I would need to convince Applejack and Apple Bloom first. "Ah'm tired."

With no obvious argument to pursue, Granny Smith kept quiet as I tramped off to bed. Of course, I bumped into the table, a chair, a second chair, and the wall before I found my way to the hall. Bed was welcoming, but I couldn't help imagining Feather, Smooth, Stereo, and Glamour curled up on it.

I curled up in the empty bed, yawned, and blinked. Feather Bangs was beside me, again. He cuddled close and played with my mane.

Looking around, I saw each of the other stallions, but the indistinct, hazy quality of the situation told me quite assuredly that I was dreaming. Though my mind was locked into the dream, a little part of me felt assured that I had to make this a reality.

The dream felt real. I was cuddled against what felt like Feather, but when I opened my eyes I saw a pillow instead. Giving a loud, equine snort at my fantasy, I rolled from bed feeling like I hadn't slept at all.

Stomping my heavy hooves downstairs, I ignored the empty kitchen and walked out into the predawn light. Luna's moon was still in the sky, but Celestia was clearly in the process of bringing the sun up.

I walked to the big water trough and stepped into it. Dunking myself in the glacial water, I felt shards of ice bob around where I had broken the crust. Water sloshed around, but while the trough was big, I was still bigger.

Stepping back out of the water trough, I leaned into it and dunked my head into the frigid water that remained. Jerking free, I was as awake as I could get, and clean too.

The sun peeked over the horizon, and rose into the sky to dry me off. I ignored the shivering that wanted to start, and just waited for a few more moments. I was almost dry when I heard the door open.

"What're you doin', Big Mac?" Applejack sounded surprised to see me, and while I didn't often perform this particular ritual, she should have recognized it as the way I broke off ties. After Cheerilee. After Fluttershy. Even after the one day with Marble.

"Jus' wakin' up." I shook myself just like Winona would, which meant I sent water flying everywhere. Awake, ready to face the day and my battle—to tell my sisters I was going to leave the farm.

She knew it wasn't a lie, but half-truths could sometimes trigger my sister's knack for the truth. Her eyes narrowed, and I knew what she was going to say.

"Just,"—I cut in, before she could say anything—"let things slide until after breakfast, please?" Real surprise registered on her face. "Ah came out here to get my head in order." I looked back to the horizon.

"Apple Bloom said something went wrong in Our Town." Applejack's tone was more inquisitive than accusatory, but it boiled my blood that she would keep poking.

"No even for an hour?" I turned and stared at her. Though her tone was inquisitive, she wore her usual "the truth is more important" face. "All Ah asked was an hour to get my head in order so Ah could talk to ya, an' ya couldn't give me that?!"

My temper had gotten the better of me. I looked at Applejack, studied her shocked expression, and let out a deep sigh. "You wanna know on an empty stomach, well alright." I walked to the side of the house and sat down on one of the hay bales stacked against the wall. "Ah thought Ah was in love for keeps."

Her expression changed from hurt to panic. My eldest sister was never one to talk about romance, and I think she might have been a touch embarrassed about my efforts to find "the one."

I continued, because now that Applejack knew the subject matter, she would have happily ignored it forever. "But the truth is Ah met somepony else. Somepony who makes me feel happy and warm." Applejack's expression seemed to recover, she was hoping this would end on a happy note—I could tell. "They travel around Equestria, making ponies happy and—and he asked me to join him."

Applejack looked about to say something, then closed her mouth and took on a shocked expression that dwarfed every emotion she had shown so far. "Yer leavin'?"

This wasn't how things were meant to go. I was meant to spend a few days relaxing, thinking things over, then another day explaining to my kin that I wanted to live elsewhere. "Ah need to think about it. Ah wanted to spend the morning doin' that, but somepony interrupted." I climbed off the hay and turned to the house.

Ignoring the obvious shock my sister was in, I walked inside and sat down at the kitchen table. "Hiya Granny." Being in Sweet Apple Acres' kitchen pushed me back into the old ways of Sweet Apple Acres, and I could forget about my problems.

"Ah hope yer hungry!" Granny Smith seemed to have forgotten all about the incident the previous night, and a casual eye would lead me to think she hadn't heard any of what me and Applejack had been talking about. I wasn't stupid, though, and neither was Granny Smith. Her hearing was pretty keen too.

"Sure am, Granny." No sooner had I said so than Granny Smith slid a plate stacked with pancakes before me. "Thanks!" My granny's pancakes were the first thing I could add to the list of "stuff I would miss." I had them covered in dripping honey before she could even turn back to the stove.

By the time Apple Bloom walked into the kitchen, I managed to keep from uttering a word thanks to the pancakes. With judicious planning, I hopped to keep it that way.

"Hiya Granny. Hiya Big Mac." As Apple Bloom took her seat, Applejack walked into the kitchen and took a seat at the table too.

The tension was thick, and ripe as a red apple. I was almost through my pancakes when Granny brought more over and dropped them on my plate—I would have kissed her if I weren't eating. I slowed down my chewing, realizing that it was a waiting game now.

Apple Bloom, having eaten some pancakes of her own, jumped to her hooves. "Ah'm off to school! Bye everypony!"

I looked to Applejack, and swallowed the last of my pancake once Apple Bloom had been out the door for ten seconds. "Ah'm gonna do some work."

Granny Smith grabbed my plate as I stood up. "Some plowin' needs doin' in the south field." She poked my shoulder with a hoof. "Should take ya a day 'r two."

"Eeyup." The word was my shield, and I used it as such while escaping the house.

Applejack didn't wait as long as I did to start talking. "Ah don't know what's going on with Big Mac. He said—he said some mighty confusin' things earlier."

I ignored their conversation and aimed myself for the barn where we kept the plow. A long day was ahead, but it was just what I needed to help me think. Carrying the plow out to the field Granny said, I set it into the ground in one corner, and harnessed myself to it.

The first step was always a tough one. I leaned forward with all the strength my oversize body could muster, and felt the clod break up behind me. Each step now was still a tough slog, but it was not beyond me.

I was all the way to the end of the row before I even started to unwind enough to think. Turning, I leaned back into the traces and started back the other direction. I began at the start of the night, then reined in my thoughts and started earlier, when Feather had invited us to dinner.

He was sincere, I realized. He wanted to give us both a good time—if a little more "good" than most restaurants—and let us join back up for a night of continued snuggles. The moment I arrived, however, I could see his eyes were drifting to me more than Sugar's. He was falling in love with—

When pulling a heavy, resistive load like a plow, you didn't have to jerk backwards to stop from hitting something in your way. So when I realized that Granny Smith was standing in the middle of the row I was plowing, just a quarter pony-length in front of me, I just stopped. "G-Granny?"

"What'n Tarnation 'd you tell yer sister?" Granny Smith shoved a glass towards me, and I grabbed it from her lest it spill. "Ah spent most 'r the mornin' talkin' with 'er, and Ah don't think she finished a single sentence."

"Ah got short with her." I sipped at the glass, and downed the whole, long drink of apple juice before realizing it. "She was pokin' her nose into my busi…" I trailed off, Granny's expression was a warning, like seeing a tree flattened in the wake of a tornado.

"Ya dang fool! She loves ya!" Granny Smith thumped me on the chest. "She's ya sister! O' course she's gonna shove her fool nose inner ya business! She cares for ya!" Each sentence was punctuated by another thud against my big, muscled chest.

I opened my mouth to counter Granny's words, but felt the sting of truth in them. I sighed and hung my head. "Ah probably need to apologize."

"Fer getting short with 'er. Not for the rest o' it." Granny Smith's hoof pushed up under my chin, making me look up and into her eyes. "Ya really fancy this colt, eh?" I was frozen, stuck in the moment of realization that I was talking to Granny Smith about Feather Bangs, but managed to nod a little. "And 'e likes ya back?"

Just the memory of the look on Feather's face made me smile. I nodded again. "Eeyup."

"Ah remember the first time Ah met a fine stallion." She let out a wistful sigh. " 'E said 'e liked me, too. Then 'e ended up chasin' a Pear!" Again Granny poked me in the chest. "Love with this 'ere thing, but don't neglect this'un." She reached up and tapped the side of my head.

I could have almost hated how right she was. "Yeah, that's the problem, Granny. Ah like him with both." A smile pulled all the way across my face, and I knew I had the dumbest, most stereotypical in-love expression possible, but there was nothing else for it.

"But regardless of what ya do with this here feller, yer not about ta leave without talkin' to Applejack." Granny Smith poured out another glass of juice from the jug balanced on her back, and passed it to me.

While drinking the second glass, I tried to think of a way to thank Granny for the advice that she wouldn't take umbrage to. In the end—and with the glass empty—I took the easy way out. "Thanks, Granny Smith, Ah needed that."

"Figured. Ah put yer lunch down over by that tree." Granny Smith gestured to an old apple tree on the edge of the field. "Don't forget to eat it." And with that, she collected the glass and, with that rickety gait that belied her strength, walked away.

"Yes, Granny." Feeling refreshed and renewed of spirit, I leaned forward into the traces and started plowing again.

Celestia's sun was warm on my back, and the plow seemed to be an apt stand-in for all my responsibilities at the farm. Turning around at the end of the row, I started plowing back the other way.

What would it cost me to leave all this? I thought, running over the problem in my head. I had the farm itself: it supported me as I supported it. Family: Applejack and Apple Bloom—the two best sisters in the whole of Equestria—Granny Smith, and the whole Apple clan.

I reached the end of another row before finishing the thought. I turned the plow around, and started back. But I wasn't giving up the Apple clan. Anywhere you went in Equestria, there was an Apple. It made me smile to think that now there would be one who wanders a little more.

Another row. Turning around, I felt a little lighter as I leaned back into the plow's weight. The farm. I would have to support myself, which meant learning from Feather Bangs how to do things his way. Just the prospect of learning something that didn't rely completely on my brute strength sent a shiver of anticipation through me.

At the end of yet another row, I turned and faced back at the field. Applejack. I owed a lot to my eldest sister. When she returned from Manehatten, I felt like the world was once again on track, and the track was dead straight and rock-solid. She had never offered to compete against me for strength, and it was something I appreciated, even if I hoped secretly that she would be stronger than me.

When I turned at the end of the row, I kept my focus on Applejack—she's important to me. What would I lose? She was a steady companion, the captain of the ship known as Sweet Apple Acres, and somepony I never wanted to hurt. We need to talk more, and I need to apologize. I breathed out a slow breath, my thoughts keeping on track, but were just moving slowly.

I turned around again, and turned my focus to my other sister. Apple Bloom. Being part of her life meant more to me than my reputation, my dignity, and almost everything else in my life. I stumbled in my slow, steady work at the thought that I had closed up a barrier to her, when she had done her best to understand my situation. If I could blame Feather Bangs for how I had treated my family, my choice would have been easy.

The row ended, and I worked the plow around again. The hole I had dug was my own doing, not Feather's. I had let myself feel trapped here, and it had taken Granny to club me over the head with it to see it. Which, of course, brought me to Granny Smith. I thought she would have been the worst of my family to talk to about Feather.

Turning around again, I noticed the sun was a little past its peak. Reaching to the traces, I unfastened myself from the plow and walked across to the tree Granny had pointed out. I reached the shade of the old tree, and sat down under it.

Opening the picnic basket Granny Smith had left, I found a big bottle of apple cider, a pair of sandwiches, and a little apple pie. Popping the cork on the cider, I took a long pull from the bottle and sighed.

A sandwich was next, and I chewed slowly on it, reminded of how my date with Sugar had gone, and more particularly the evening after it. I closed my eyes, my lunch break a literal break from my worries. While I ate my sandwiches, I remembered Feathered speaking softly in my ear, while Glamour played his music.

The touch of soft lips to my ear was almost real. I could smell Feather's wagon, and even Smooth's love for licking my anus felt real again. I ate slowly, and celebrated my memories and the magic fantasy they could take me back to.

My muscles eased, and when I finally finished the last bite of my sandwiches, I opened my eyes to see the sun far down in the horizon. I blinked a few times in shock. "Consarn it!"

"You really have it bad for him, don't ya?" Applejack's voice came from the middle of the field. My sister was all hooked up to the plow, and was pulling it steadily across the field.

"What're you doin'?" Seeing Applejack pulling the plow, something everypony had seen as my job, was somewhat of a relief, although there was a touch of annoyance too.

Applejack stopped and reached for the traces, unhooking herself; I could see she had plowed four rows while I slept. "Just tryin' it on fer size."

I walked across the field, the image of Applejack pulling the plow so easily burned into my memory; she was stronger than me. At once it was both a relief and not fair. All my life I had had to put up with being a monster of a pony, size wise, just to have such strength, and here my smaller sister—who could wear all the dresses I could ever wish to fit into—was stronger.

Granny Smith's message cut through the anger I felt, and it hissed and fell away from me. "Sorry." I hung my head and looked at Applejack's hooves.

"About what?" Her tone sounded genuine, but with my sister there was the truth, and "the truth."

"Ah was a bit short wit' ya." Every ounce of pride squeezed through the head of a pin as I said the words.

Applejack just shook her head at me. I was ready to get angry at what seemed like condescension, but thankfully my nature of slow deliberation saved me. When she looked at me, I felt a rainbow grow inside. "Ah see it that we both went a little far. Yer my brother, an' I shouldn't have gone and gotten all into your business."

I opened my mouth to counter her comment, but closed it again and lifted my hoof instead. The only thing that was good about being such a big stallion was being able to hug somepony and make sure you mean it. She moved in and we each wrapped strong forelegs around the other.

"Ah'm gonna miss you." We both said the words, including the same drawl, at exactly the same time.

Tears welled up in my eyes. "You first."

"Ah'm gonna miss you, big brother." Applejack squeezed, showing off more than her usual amount of strength. "Ya looked after the farm while Ah was away, an' ya gave me the time to become me again."

Seeing my moment, I had my say. "And Ah'm gonna miss you, too. Ah was not handling this place right. Ah couldn't make the decisions that needed makin'. You save our farm—your farm."

"So yer definitely goin'? No foolin'?" Applejack squeezed me one more time, and I realized just how strong she might be.

When she let go, I nodded. "Eeyup. At least to see what it's like. Ah remember a young mare tellin' me you have to see what something is like at least once."

"Sounds like a mare who really had her head on straight." Her grin wide, Applejack straightened her hat and gestured back to the plow. "Why don't you take the day off to get everything square in yer head. Yer gonna have t' tell Granny, you know?"

"Ah got it covered." I had to smirk a little at that. "Apple Bloom'll be the hardest. I owe her an apology. She tried t' help me understand what I had goin' on, and I threw her away."

"Yeah. Ah saw the mess." Pulling the traces back onto her harness, Applejack raised an eyebrow at me. "Go on, git. Ah got this."

It was mid-afternoon on a school-day: I knew where to go. My heavy legs carried me back to the main farm, and then along the path to the front gate. I heard the racket coming from the little clubhouse before I saw it.

"… using mind-control magic!" Scootaloo's tone was clear, and shrill.

"Don't be ridiculous." Apple Bloom, ever the voice of reason. "It's a vampony using their hypnotism on him!"

A muffled, softer reply was Sweetie Belle, and I dreaded what her idea was.

When I rounded a bend in the path, and was visible to those in the clubhouse—through the recent addition of a large window that was a combination of Sweetie Belle's cooking, and Apple Bloom's alchemy—all three voices went silent.

They waited for me to walk right up to the clubhouse before I suddenly found myself assaulted by garlic. "Apple Bloom!" My little sister looked completely unrepentant, and adorable. "Ah'm not bein' hypno-whatsit by a vampony!"

Apple Bloom's eyes narrowed. "How'd you know it was a vampony?"

To assuage her fears—and because I liked the stuff—I bit into a clove and gulped it down. The spice was strong in my mouth, but it was part of my penance to my littlest sister. "See?"

"You could still be mind-controlled. Like when Starlight Glimmer made you keep talking, and you came to us and the best we could do was to find that rope and—" Scootaloo broke off her explanation, and glared at me with her forehooves on her hips—standing upright.

"Ah'd remember if that happened again." I turned my head to Sweetie Belle, dreading to hear what her explanation was.

All three crusaders gasped, and pulled aside into a huddle. I could barely hear their whispered words, but when they broke apart, Apple Bloom turned to me and puffed out her chest. "They think you're under Queen Chrysalis' control." Her face broke into a huge grin.

"Y'all were with me all the way there and back. There weren't no time to do any of that." I sucked up my pride. "I came to apologize, Apple Bloom." Lifting one huge (compared to Apple Bloom) hoof up, I ruffled her mane. "You were just tryin' t' help."

I had no hope of dodging the yellow and red missile that launched at me. Rather than try, I instead hooked one foreleg around Apple Bloom, and hugged her. Softer, so her friends didn't hear, I added, "An' if you wanna talk a bit later, Ah'll try t' not throw hay bales at ya."

Her pure, tinkling laugh was infectious. "Ah like it when ya throw hay bales, Big Mac." She squeezed me for all she was worth, and while it wasn't a potentially spine-crushing huge like I suspected Applejack could give, it wasn't the hug of a tiny filly.

Letting go of Apple Bloom, I waved to her friends and turned back for the house. Granny Smith was in the kitchen, and I gave her a smile as I headed through to my bedroom.

I looked into the mirror in my room and a big, red, and slightly concerned-looking stallion gazed back at me. My memories couldn't help but overlay Feather and his friends over my own shape, and I couldn't believe they wanted me to join them.

Feather was compact, beautiful, and masculine in ways that I was almost a parody of. Twilight had told me there was no spell to transform a pony permanently, so then what was Feather going to use? The unsure stallion in the mirror didn't have any answers for me. I needed to pass some time and think.

Grabbing the library card from my dressing table, I headed back out and to the kitchen. Granny was still there, baking away, and not for the first time I had to wonder just how much she worked. I was the only one of my siblings who had watched Granny's slow decline; Applejack had gone to Manehattan for a time, and Apple Bloom had always known her in her (more or less) current situation.

Putting the card on the table, I stepped outside into the clear day, only to have a blue pegasus almost under my forehooves. "Hey!" Rainbow Dash's agility was so far beyond my own as to almost make her a completely different species.

"Sorry!" I backed up a step before even realizing she had jumped back four. "Excuse me." Nodding my head, I moved forward again, assuming Rainbow Dash would wait for me. She didn't. I had to stop again lest I walk right over one of my sister's best friends.

I waited for her to back up again, and this time just walked. "Applejack's plowin' the back field." I started walking for the water trough to clean off the grime of the work I had done.

"Yeah, Apple Bloom told me." Rainbow Dash didn't head into the house, or zoom off to find Applejack. Instead, the pegasus followed me. "Twilight said you might want to chat about some things."

I froze. The next few words from her would decide my afternoon. I turned my head to look at Rainbow Dash, and realized there was no guile in her. Rainbow Dash was, almost quite literally, worse than my sister at telling lies. "Did she?"

"Yeah. She told me that of everypony she knew well, I was the best suited to talk to you. If you ask me, I think she has been opening one too many old books. I keep warning Twilight that it isn't healthy." Nothing. Twilight hadn't told Rainbow Dash anything about my situation, but had called in her close friend for me.

"Stallion-troubles." I turned back to the trough and climbed into it.

"Whoa! Hold on! I'm not a—"

"Ah mean with another stallion." It seemed Rainbow Dash would need pictures painted, detailed ones, possibly with diagrams. "Ah fell pretty hard."

"Oh." I watched Rainbow Dash walk around to stand before the trough. "OH! That's why she asked me!" I had the distinct honor of seeing a short, "compact" pegasus puffing out her chest in pride. Closing her eyes and folding a wing before her chest, Rainbow Dash nodded as if she were the master of her craft (and if this was about flying, that would be true). "Of course Twilight got her only friend into stallions to come talk to you."

I had guessed as much. My sister and Pinkie Pie had been a done-deal for quite some time, and I thought I remembered hearing about Fluttershy and Tree Hugger. Rarity was a surprise, as was Twilight. "So what do I do?"

Rainbow fluffed her wings down and looked at me as if the next few words would be the most important of my life. "Is he hot?" I nodded. "Then go for it. Have some fun, Big Mac."

It was the single most "Rainbow Dash" piece of advice I could imagine, but hearing somepony who had no vested interest telling me was a rush. I looked up at her with a little awe (and if truth be told, a fair bit of respect). I paused a moment to let her advice set in, and smiled. "Thanks."

"So, who is it?" Rainbow Dash took a few steps to the side and leaned against the wall. "Is it Thunderlane? Because I could swear that stallion loves ass so much he—"

"Feather Bangs." At my pronouncement I watched her face turn to confusion. "He isn't from around here."

"You don't say. Is he a pegasus? Are you going to join the wing-appreciation club?" Her tone implied what Rainbow Dash thought of stallions without wings.

Sloshing around in the water, I shook my head. "Nnope. Earth pony like me. He has a good friend who's a unicorn." My memories of Glamour Trot came back, and I could almost taste his musk again.

"Whoa, hold on!" Rainbow Dash broke me from my reverie and held her hooves up. I noticed both her wings were high in the air. "That look… What is going on here, McIntosh? Is this Feather Bangs starting a—a harem of stallions?"

"M-Maybe." I hadn't actually thought about that angle of things. Feather had seemed to be in charge, that was certain. "Probably."

"He knows about your dress-ups?" Rainbow's words cut through my musing like a knife through water (hot butter wasn't a sufficient comparison). My look must have told her she had hit a nerve, because she was quick to add, "What? It's getting pretty obvious all these bets keep getting lost on purpose. I know you are stronger than Applejack."

"Nnope." I reached for the only topic-slide I could take away from the snake in the conversation. "She's stronger'n me. Ah was pullin' a plow earlier, and she took a turn and made it look easy."

"Wow, really? I would have thought—what with all your size and muscle—that you would be way stronger than her." As I climbed out of the tub, Rainbow Dash stood up straight and flapped her wings. I had heard of mares getting a "blow-dry" before, but the gusts of wind from Rainbow Dash's small-seeming wings almost tipped me over. They did get me dry, though.

"Thanks." I shook, and not a drop of water came from my coat.

Rainbow Dash struck her "it was nothing" pose, and held a hoof up in the air. "It was nothing." Eeyup, I had called it.

I lifted a hoof and connected with hers, getting a sharp clopping sound. "No." I took a deep breath. "Not just fer the blow-job. I mean thanks for the advice." As I explained myself, I noticed Rainbow Dash's eyes widen, her wings shoot up, and a bright rush of color reach her cheeks. "What?"

"That—that wasn't a blow-job."

We both stared at each other for a few seconds, and perfectly timed we broke into laughter together. It felt good to laugh, even if it was at myself. Actually, it was even better to laugh at myself.

The door to the house banged open. "What'n the world're you two cacklin' about? Are you going to the library or not?" Granny Smith stood in the doorway holding the library card.

I turned from looking at Granny back to Rainbow Dash, and held up my hoof. "Thanks."

"Don't mention it. We gotta stick together." Her hoof collided with mine, and to my surprise she used me as a springboard to launch herself backwards and into the air.

Granny Smith wobbled her way up beside me and passed me the library card. "That'n is entirely too fast t' flitter about. She needs to come down to earth a bit!"

"Nnope." I risked Granny Smith's ire by disagreeing, and saw her eyes narrow as a result. "She told me somethin' Ah needed to hear." I took the card from Granny's outstretched hoof, and leaned closer to kiss her chastely on the cheek. "Thanks, Granny."

I trotted to the castle this time; my hooves feeling oddly light. I knocked on the front door and waited. A few moments later Starlight Glimmer opened up. "Uh…" Ever since she had used her mind-magic on me, I just hadn't talked to her as much as before—it was horribly ironic.

"Twilight and her friends had to go on a friendship emergency. You can go through to the library if you want." Starlight seemed to avoid looking me in the eyes once she had identified me.

"Thanks." It was becoming my new favorite word. An odd pain hit me, and I realized this might be the last time I see Starlight Glimmer. "Starlight. I don't have time for grudges. You're Twilight's friend, and that is enough for me to give you another chance."

Her morose expression flipped so much I was almost blinded by it. A beautiful smile bloomed on Starlight Glimmer's face, and it felt good to have given her this. It wasn't like it cost me anything. "Big McIntosh, I—"

"Just Big Mac is fine." I cocked a smile and pointed inside with my hoof. "Mind if we chat inside? There is a book I want to finish."

Starlight Glimmer's mouth opened and closed a few times, and I had the distinct impression she didn't believe that I actually came here to read. As my mind processed that fact, and I realized the only other reason I might be coming here so frequently, I blushed. Celestia be praised for red fur.

"Oh. Uh. Sure I guess." Starlight Glimmer, personal student to Princess Twilight Sparkle, most amazing unicorn sorceress anypony had ever seen, was tongue-tied. It was great.

I followed her inside, closed the door behind me, and proceeded towards the library. "Twilight was the only one." I let the words hang in the air a moment, teasing Starlight's sensibilities, before I saved her. "Going on the friendship emergency, I mean."

Starlight Glimmer seemed to miss a few steps in her stride. "Oh, no! This time it was her and Fluttershy. Something to do with the breezies."

We reached the library with no further words, and I could see the book I had been reading the previous day was still on its low lectern. I walked right up and lay down with it. Opening the book to my mark, I slowly started reading the page. "Ah won't lie. Ah didn't like you using that mind-spell on me."

"I really got carried away. You should have seen what happened to everypony else!" Starlight Glimmer's tone spoke volumes about her feeling on mind magic. If I didn't know better I would say there was a vow or two said. "I'm really sorry, Big Mac."

"Apology accepted." I turned and saw the sincere look on her face. "But how are you doin' with those kinda spells? Are ya getting' better with 'em?"

Shock. Panic. Starlight wouldn't have looked more surprised if I had asked her to marry me. "What? No! I won't use anything like that ever again!" She shook her head and scrunched up her mouth as if she had bitten a lemon.

"Why not? Seems like if somepony really bad is doin' bad things, and you can't get 'em to stop, that would be a good way to." I finished with the page and gently turned it with my huge hoof. "An' ya seemed t' be good with it."

"But it was making ponies do things against their will. It's not like I haven't got a bad track record on that front. Enslaving a whole village, etcetera, etcetera." She waved a hoof in the air, and I noticed she didn't even have a book out.

"Ya seem t' have a better idea now, of when not t' use it?" I knew the book so well that I barely needed to look down the page. Still, I focused on working each word over, even as I spoke. When there was no reply from Starlight, I turned my head to look at her. "Well?"

"All the time?" For a brief few seconds all the titles and power of Starlight Glimmer faded, and a young mare around my age, who looked a little scared of herself, looked back at me.

"Nnope. Think fer a second. What if that big guy, Tirek, came back? What if he was all 'Ah'm gonna destroy you all!' again? Would it be wrong to tell him he should take a nap, and make him?" When I finished, I saw more shock on Starlight's face. "Ah don't mean to use those crazy control spells, but just something to calm somepony down, make them less likely to hurt themselves or others."

She didn't reply, and I didn't have anything further to say. I settled a little further into the cushions and kept reading. I didn't even notice when she left, or when the sun came down.

I stretched, yawned, and realized I was hungry and tired. Sitting, then standing up, I heard joints pop and creak at the lack of movement and faced again with a non-sedentary position. I folded the book closed with the bookmark hanging clear of it, turned, and left the Castle of Friendship.

The walk home, in the dark, was quiet and calm. When I reached Sweet Apple Acres, it was dark again. Sneaking inside, I found my bed and slept peacefully. I had made my final decision.

Back To Him

I could have easily slipped back into my schedule. In ten years I had only slept past dawn once, and that had been in Feather Bangs' wagon. I had been harnessed to life, dressed in all its tack, but Feather had yanked my reins and shown me a different way.

To live yoked to the farm any longer was impossible: it wasn't truly living.

Rolling out of bed, I slipped from my room and down the hall. Nopony was in the kitchen, so I slipped outside and into the chill predawn air. "Ah'm going." The words were heard by me and nopony else.

Advancing on the water trough, I found a small stack of papers folded and sitting on the edge. Picking up the first, I found my library card folded in it.

I lifted up the second and read it, too.

A smile creased my cheeks. Starlight wasn't my most favorite pony in Equestria, but she had fought so hard to do what was right, and to think she was suppressing her most impressive magic just to be good.

The last letter was not so neat as the first two. The writing was rough, and I caught a few spelling errors.

It didn't need a name at the bottom for me to know it was from Rainbow Dash. I folded up all three letters and carefully put them aside before stepping into the trough.

The chill of the morning was nothing to that of the water. I grit my teeth and sank down as far as I could get. While the cold bit into my flesh, I shivered and shifted, freeing all my fur to move and clean off.

Stepping out, I turned and dunked my head into the water. I repeated the previous process, letting the water wash through my mane and the fur of my face, until I couldn't hold my breath any longer.

Yanking my head from the icy depths, I gasped for breath. Chilled to my bones, I felt reborn to the new day—to the future. I stood in the open, watched as the sun was lifted above the horizon. The warmth of Celestia's gift to Equestria, to the very world, soaked into me.

By the time Granny Smith rang the breakfast bell I was warm and ready to face what may come. Picking up my letters, I turned from my future on the farm and headed inside.

"'Ere he is. Ah thought we might have t' send Apple Bloom out to fish you out of that trough." Granny Smith, despite her doubting of my timeliness, was setting a plate stacked high with apple-pancakes.

"Nnope." As I walked around the table, I lifted a hoof to muss up Apple Bloom's mane. I knew she hated it, but this was the first time she didn't actually complain. "Ah got a few things Ah need t' say."

Applejack managed to cut in before I could get further. "Ya got our support, McIntosh."

"An' mine!" Apple Bloom capitalized on my silence.

"Mine too. But y'all gonna shut yer yappers right now so's Big Mac can talk. Ain't ya?" I couldn't help smiling back at Granny. She had given her support too, but then derided everypony for giving theirs. Of course, she wouldn't admit to seeing the joke. Apple Bloom and Applejack nodded, of course.

I was reminded of a similar time we had sat like this, although Apple Bloom had been much younger—then again, we were all a lot younger. I remembered Applejack's words. "Ah gots to go." I looked right in my eldest sister's eyes, and saw a glimmer in them as she recognized the origin. "Ah had a choice, though. But if I don't go and see, Ah'll never know what it was like.

"An' ya know Ah have some odd tastes." I looked right at Applejack. "Not a single one o' ya ever said anything bad about it. Ah like wearing pretty things." The words, to my surprise, didn't choke me. All my life I thought it had been something to be hidden, and now that I had said it I couldn't remember what all the fuss was about. "Feather said he could help me embrace that, and Ah 'ave to know what that's like."

Silence hang heavy in the kitchen. Everypony sat there, staring at their pancakes. As if breaking a spell, I lifted my fork and speared some on my plate. Cutting a good-sized piece free, I lifted it up and put the wonderful food in my mouth.

"That was a might wordy, Big Mac." Applejack's grin was insufferable, and took any barbs from her words. My sister couldn't resist comparing our respective departures. It occurred to me that she figured I would be coming back, but I had to believe that I wasn't or else it would be all for nothing.

"It's more'n 'eeyup' and 'nnope',"—Apple Bloom was jumping to my defense, not that I needed her too—"but big brother has been spendin' a lot of time in the library!"

I reached a hoof over and poked at her shoulder, a sloppy, big grin on my face. "It's a joke. All ya sister said, when she left, was, 'Ah gots to go.'" Dawning realization grew on Apple Bloom's face, so I returned to my breakfast.

Granny Smith, when I was out of pancakes, somehow produced another stack. By the time I was done, my belly felt fit to burst. But it was time to pack everything I would take.

Turning in my seat, I slipped up to my hooves and made my way down the hall. "Apple Bloom? Ah got somethin' important I need ta give ya." Finished calling to my littlest sister, I turned into my room.

He was there on my pillow, facing the sunshine coming in through the window like he always did. "A princess gave him to me, an' Ah had to fight off the whole town to keep him."

Apple Bloom stared at me from the doorway, her eyes wide. "Yer not takin' Smarty Pants?"

"Nnope. Ah think he prefers it here on the farm." I tried as hard as I could not to cry, but it was impossible. Trickles of liquid made their way down my cheeks. "Can you look after him, please?"

A yellow and red missile launched itself at me, and I soon had Apple Bloom trying to wrap her forelegs around my neck. I sat down on the floor and curled a foreleg around her, pulling her into a hug.

"Of course Ah will, big brother." Her voice was almost lost with how hard she pushed her snout into my mane. A drowning pony wouldn't have held so tight to the side of a boat as Apple Bloom did to me. "Feather's really that cute?"

I bit back my initial reply. "He is." It was easier than I thought to finally admit that to my littlest sister. She liked stallions, now I liked stallions. Why shouldn't we compare notes?

Because she only got her cutie mark recently, and while she had a coltfriend, I didn't want to so much as think about how sexy Feather looked—and made me feel—with her in the conversation. Nonetheless, I squeezed a little tighter before letting go. "Ah have t' see if he's the one."

Wearing a smirk I judged at being five years too old for her face, Apple Bloom winked. "Good luck." She giggled in the way a filly would giggle about a colt, and it had the effect of shattering any illusion I could speak freely about Feather Bangs with her.

"Thanks, Apple Bloom." I ruffled her mane until she shouted at me to stop, which didn't take all that long.

Opening my closet doors, I didn't see much that I needed to take. There was the two suits I had ever worn (one would fit Apple Bloom, the other was too big to ever fit her); a set of four, striped socks; and five dresses.

Feather's promise made me want to burn the dresses in the hope I would never need anything that big ever again. I heaved a sigh and reached to the doors to close them.

"Y-Your clothes, Big Mac. Aren't you going to pack them?" I had managed, somehow, to forget Apple Bloom was still in the room.

I turned and shook my head. "Nnope." Reaching across my bed to my most prized possession, I passed Smarty Pants to Apple Bloom with all the ceremony of a princess being given her crown. "Take care of him."

My tears seemed contagious, because now Apple Bloom was crying too. "Ah will!"

Walking for the door, I had to go before I promised I would stay. Apple Bloom was the only one in the family, now, that could simply ask me to stay and I would. It was a powerful hold for the filly to have over me, and I loved her all the more for not using it.

In the kitchen, Granny Smith and Applejack were sitting together at the table. There was a hundred and one chores to do, but they both sat as if there was nothing to occupy them.

"That's all ya takin'?" Granny's eyes lanced at mine, and I nodded to her in reply. "Figured. Just remember, ya always got a bed here."

"Thanks, Granny." I stepped up before her and leaned down so I could offer my cheek.

No sooner did Granny kiss my cheek like the colt I always felt to her, than I was literally tackled by Applejack. I was right, she was stronger than me, and right then I felt like Apple Bloom must have when I hugged her. I clung to Applejack while she almost crushed my spine.

"Take care of yerself, Big Mac." With Applejack's words I upgraded her status: if either of my sisters begged me to stay, I would. I squeezed her back for all I was worth.

"An' you look after the farm. Ya always did love it more 'n me, anyhow." My tears were back, but I felt no shame in spilling them. I sat there, a mare almost half my size practically crushing me. "Uh… Applejack?"

Her legs suddenly let go, and I crashed to the floor. "S-Sorry McIntosh. Ah guess Ah got a mite carried away." Freckles and a blush. There was no way any mare could resist her like this; for an instant I wanted to get Rarity to come and see Applejack's face, but then I remembered I was leaving.

"Ah like it when ya get carried away." Straightening up, I managed to get my hooves under me before reaching out to pull her into a one-legged hug. "Ah'll miss ya."

None of us dared say another word. We hugged, and I walked out of the house for what I was sure would be the last time. Turning around in a full circle, I took in what the farm was, and committed everything to memory. Finishing my gaze back on the house, Granny Smith, Apple Bloom, and Applejack all stood there looking at me.

"Goodbye." I tried to be the big, brave stallion. I tried to hold back more tears, but it wasn't the day for dry eyes. As my vision got blurry, I turned towards the road that led to Ponyville, and began putting one hoof before the other.

As I walked—not feeling like trotting, that was for sure—I remembered that I still had Twilight, Rainbow, and Starlight's letters. I pulled the three out and examined them. I still had my library card, nothing could go wrong.

Bright and sunny, as always when living in a town with a dedicated group of weather ponies, the day was looking to be a great one. Reaching the outskirts of Ponyville, I felt a desire not to walk through the slowly waking village.

Skirting around Ponyville, I managed to keep my interactions to nods and waves. I wanted to make a clean break, and that would be impossible if I stopped and talked to everypony.

"Hi Big Mac." I had never heard the movement, and never so much as sensed their approach, but the moment I heard Pinkie Pie's voice, I knew she knew.

I was going to stop my walk, but she began a slow trot at my side. "Hiya Pinkie Pie."

She looked at me with a deep, penetrating gaze that I felt saw more than even I had over the last few days. "You really should have told me, I could have thrown a party. As it is, I only had time to bake this for you."

I wasn't sure what to expect. I had seen her produce entire wedding cakes out of thin air before, so when I saw Pinkie Pie reaching to her mane, I started to panic—she kept some crazy things in there.

"Here you go!" Pinkie Pie plucked out a neat little paper bag, just like those used in Sugarcube Corner. She thrust it forwards.

I reached out for the bag with one hoof. "Thanks, Pinkie—"

Of course that wasn't enough. She reached into her mane again and pulled out a huge cake. "That was just for your lunch. This is for your impromptu going-away road-trip party!" She saw that I had nowhere to put everything, and reached to her mane again.

When Pinkie Pie slung a saddlebag across my back, I sighed in relief—it wasn't an eldritch abomination (this time). "You don't need to do all this." I tucked the bagged lunch in my bag only to have a slice of cake stuffed in my mouth. "Fwank ooo."

Holding the cake that was only missing one slice, Pinkie Pie tilted it up and shoved it into her mouth. I had watched her devour much larger cakes than my "impromptu going-away road-trip party cake," so it wasn't too much of a surprise. "You have to promise me something, McIntosh."

"Yeah. Anything P…" I trailed off. When a mare's lower lip wobbles as much as Pinkie's did right now, and when her eyes had that hint of almost-tears to them, there was only one thing you could do. I reached out and pulled Pinkie Pie into a hug.

She squeezed back every bit as hard as I hugged her. "I wanted to throw you the biggest, bestest party ever, but then I looked at all my notes and they all point to one thing, a small party, and I don't really do small parties all that good, and I really wanted to make your party as super-duper-amazing awesome as I could, but for every pony I would invite it would just make it less super-duper-amazing awesome, and I didn't want your last party in Ponyville to—" I pressed a hoof to Pinkie's mouth, but her lips kept moving against my frog.

"Pinkie Pie, this is perfect." I remembered how I would hug Marble (Pinkie's twin sister), and was surprised all over again that the two mares were twins. "This is the smallest party you could throw, after all."

"It,"—Pinkie sniffed hard, her nose making the same kind of sound as a balloon letting all the air out—"it is, isn't it?" She pulled back a little and looked in my eyes. For just a moment my defenses were undone, and I watched the happiest mare in all Equestria recover from a depressed moment. It was like the sun rising all over again.

"Eeyup." At my assent, Pinkie Pie broke into the giggles. I let her out of my forelegs, and she dropped back to all fours. "Thank you, Pinkie Pie."

"Goodbye Big Mac!" She stayed in place, and started waving. Pinkie Pie, since she had moved into Ponyville, had become the first face every new pony saw, and now she was the last I would see.

I turned and started walking. Twilight's castle was just ahead, but I turned away from it to wave back to Pinkie—and of course she was still waving.

Pinkie Pie's lunch had served me well, with chocolate and caramel sandwiches apparently being what she knew I liked (being miles from anywhere as I munched them, I had to admit she had somehow got my tastes pinned down). The sun was advancing into the afternoon overhead, and I could see the buildings of Our Town ahead.

I still had days to go to Feather Bangs; there was something I just had to do first. Walking into town, I marched all the way to the bakery—Sugar Belle's bakery. Huffing out a breath, I straightened and entered the shop. Looking around, I could see evidence of much baking: on the shelves there were pies, pastries, and even a small batch of candy apples, but of Sugar Belle there was no evidence.

"Sugar Belle?" I walked over to the counter, my nose assaulted by so many rich, cooked apple dishes that I almost dove onto the shelves I had built. The sound of talking came from the door leading to her attached home. "Sugar? I came to talk."

I advanced on the doorway and looked through into what was apparently Sugar Belle's kitchen. The room was a proper, shop-kitchen. Very fancy equipment adorned every hook and shelf. But what I saw through the doorway into Sugar Belle's living room caught my attention.

Sugar Belle was laying on her couch, her eyes closed and mouth moving slowly, while Stereo Mix seemed to comfort her. "Sugar Belle?" Without the twists and turns to conceal it, my voice obviously carried to the living room.

Sugar Belle lifted her head and looked at me. Tears streaked her eyes as she returned my look. "Big Mac? What're you doing back here?" She rushed to float a handkerchief over, blotting her eyes dry.

"What Ah did wasn't fair, Sugar Belle." I had told my friends and family I was leaving, now I had to tell another fillyfriend that I it was time to move on. I walked into the kitchen, then through to the living room. On the couch, Stereo shifted a little, making room for me on his opposite side from Sugar Belle. The invitation seemed too much. "Ah just wanted to tell you Ah'm sorry, this ain't gonna work. I've f—"

"Shh. Sit down, relax and tell us what happened." Stereo's voice was calm, relaxing. I looked into his eyes and he nodded to me.

Slumping down on the couch, I started to talk. I described what had happened on that night—the one where I found my love for Feather—and I used any and all words to describe how it made me feel: how wonderful, and how perfect.

When I got to the end, even describing the last few days in Ponyville, I looked up and saw Sugar Belle staring at me.

"You really love him that much? You would leave your farm?" Sugar Belle's voice sounded more surprised than upset. I tried to nod, but Stereo's hoof slid up and onto my head, and as he started rubbing one of my ears, my words halted.

"Shh, McIntosh. It is Sugar Belle's turn to speak." Stereo's voice was a slowly rolling ocean, and he carried me away from my worries with just the tone. "Sugar, you need to tell Mac what happened to you."

I watched Sugar Belle. A brown hoof lifted up and started rubbing at her ears, too. She kept quiet, and leaned into Stereo Mix's touch.

"It really was a lovely dinner. Spending some time with you, Big Mac, and not having to worry about the shop, or anything else. But I felt a yearning for more. I needed somepony, but—" Her lips snapped closed, and only some more persistent ear-rubbing urged her to open them again. "But I needed somepony smaller."

A gasp should have exited my throat. I wanted to accuse Sugar Belle, to point a hoof at her and tell her, "That's not fair!" But Stereo found a new spot behind my ear, and started rubbing at it. I felt my words waver, I felt the thoughts that pushed the idea that I should be outraged just fall apart.

Stereo Mix shifted a little on the couch, pressing his back against it, sitting upright. "You need to be calm, McIntosh. Let me give you something for that overactive mouth to do."

The angle he held me at, the direction he had me staring—he couldn't mean——. I inhaled the scent of stallion, and almost got drunk on it.

"I went with Stereo, he and I…" Sugar Belle's words trailed off, and I saw her gulp. "He felt so good inside me. He was perfect in every way no other stallion had ever been. I wanted him inside me, on top of me, all over me. I wanted to be covered, to be used, to be pleased, and to be—to be…"

Without realizing it, my tongue had snaked out and lapped along Stereo's sheathe. The rubbing on my ears increased, and I closed my eyes and licked again. And again. And again. I couldn't move any part of my body apart from my mouth, but that was enough.

"We…" My free ear twitched as Sugar started talking again. She gave a little sigh after a pause, and I felt her shift on the couch. "He started off with a massage. It was gentle, slow. He worked down from my stiff neck to my rump. I didn't know a massage could feel so arousing."

As she spoke, I tried to squirm closer, and Stereo let me. I nuzzled against his sheath, begging him to let me work further.

"He was so gentle, so firm. He massaged every inch of me until I couldn't move I was so relaxed. When his touch shifted, I barely felt a difference. He lifted my tail and started licking me." I opened my eyes again, watching Sugar Belle squirm at the telling of her experience.

Above me, Stereo kept rubbing at my ears, kept me just barely close enough to worship the side of his hardening sheath with nuzzles and licks. While I watched, he gently guided Sugar Belle to lean down too until we were almost nose to nose. There was just one thing between us, and at the same time we both licked it.

"Keep talking. He needs to know everything we did, just like he told you what he did with Smooth." Stereo's voice was calm, relaxed, and relaxing. He certainly didn't sound like two ponies were nuzzling his growing erection.

"He licked me until I was wet. He licked me until I whimpered and begged him to do more." Sugar had the side of her snout pressed to Stereo's shaft, pushing it towards me just a little. "But he told me I had to wait, he wasn't done with me. It felt like hours, and each lick pushed me further away from thinking of you, thinking of the shop, thinking even of myself. I existed only for his tongue to lick." And with that, she lapped a long stroke along Stereo's hard penis.

We were both quiet, sharing the joy of our ministrations. Sugar Belle would lick one side of his shaft, and I would lick the other. But Stereo's voice coaxed Sugar Belle back. "Come now. You can't have the prize without the work. Tell your coltfriend what happened next."

Sugar whined a little, and her licks stopped. More for me. "When he finally stopped licking me, he took me." Her voice had no shame in it, only a shaky joy. "He was big how I wanted big, but not too big. He filled me so well, but then he started moving. Each stroke was bliss, and each time he pulled back ripped a whimper from me. It wasn't lovemaking, he was giving me life." She lapped along Stereo's shaft just once. "And he filled me with everything he was.

"I screamed, I begged for more, and I promised I would do anything for more of him. He took me again, then again, and again." She closed her eyes and started lapping again.

"And how did it make you feel? How did I make you feel?" Stereo Mix's voice felt thick in my ears, like his words were honey.

"It made me feel alive." I hadn't realized I had spoken. I looked at Sugar and realized she had said the same words at the same time. One of our eyes could see clearly, but the other was filled with the towering perfection that was Stereo's shaft.

"You both lost yourselves that night." He rubbed my ears, and I saw him rub Sugar's too. The rubbing and his voice combined made it so easy to relax. I licked twice along his shaft. "But it wasn't me McIntosh fell for. You love Feather Bangs, and he took care of you all night. He promised you everything your heart desires."

I nodded, making a soft moaning sound. I wanted nothing more than to sit up, open my mouth, and let Stereo fill me.

"You what? Why did he get that?" The words were at odds with Stereo Mix's tone. It was Sugar Belle, and she had shock in her voice. "You just took me home and left me. Why did he get to stay with you?"

I opened my mouth to reply, and now the rubbing of my ears felt like encouragement. "Because Ah loved it. I wanted it, and him. I needed him. I love him."

"He got to stay because Feather has feelings for McIntosh." Not you, was implied at the end of Stereo's words. I felt all tingly at the confirmation of what I was to Feather.

"Ah just. I couldn't leave him." I looked at Sugar Belle, stared right in her eyes. "Ah love him, Sugar Belle. Ah love him and he loves me."

When Sugar Belle, her chest heaving now, opened her mouth to yell, Stereo Mix rubbed her ears. "You said what you needed to, now you can have more reward." His rubbing intensified at my ears too, and I relaxed under his touch, stared at Sugar Belle past his shaft as we both returned to licking the wonderful stallion's shaft.

We both settled, and Stereo's voice seemed to drone on and on, telling us how good we were, and how great this reward was. He wasn't wrong. I worshiped his shaft. I slathered it with my tongue and ran kisses up and down it.

"Now Sugar, you love McIntosh here?" With Stereo Mix's words, Sugar and I locked eyes across from his shaft again. She nuzzled and adored the penis just as much as I did, and she nodded between licks. "Say it, Sugar Belle."

"I love—" Sugar Belle looked down and pressed her lips to Stereo's balls—breaking eye contact. "I love Big Mac." She lifted her face back up, and I saw tears there. "I do love him."

"You know he loves somepony else?" Stereo's hoof played slow circles on Sugar Belle's head, rubbing an ear every now and again. "He even gave up his life to be with Feather Bangs." I watched as Sugar Belle closed her eyes, but it didn't stop her tears. She nodded. "Say it, Sugar Belle. Tell our little colt here how much he means to you."

I railed against the magic of the moment. I struggled and strained, but I couldn't move with the gentle hoof playing with my mane. All my strength was for naught.

Sugar's eyes locked on mine. "B-B-Big Mac? I love you. The songs—the silly games—only made me love you more. It hurt to tell you to go, but when you came back it made me want you more. I love you…"

"McIntosh, it is your turn. Tell Sugar Belle how much you love her, how much you want her more than anypony in Equestria." The soft tone of Stereo's words bit into me like the barbed teeth of a saw.

I clenched my teeth and squeezed my eyes closed.

"If you tell her, I promise you we will leave you and Sugar, and you two will be the happiest ponies that ever lived." Saccharin. His words seemed the sweetest thing ever, but it was a fake.

I cried as I nuzzled at Stereo's shaft. I whimpered and whined as I marked myself with his scent. But I couldn't say the words. I couldn't lie.

"Not got it in you to lie?" Stereo rubbed my ear enough to make the barbed question slide. "Why don't you tell Sugar Belle, the mare who loves you, who you truly love? Tell her, McIntosh."

Squeezing my eyes closed as hard as I could, I licked up the underside of Stereo's shaft, playing along the medial ring. "I love Feather Bangs."

The world seemed to fade to black, and I woke up in a soft bed with a warm presence at my side. My heart soared and I turned to see who it was, hoping it was Feather Bangs. Stereo Mix lay beside me in the bed, his back towards me.

I let out a sigh until the bed rocked. Then again. Stereo was moving his hips, he was—he was having sex!

Jerking up, I looked over him to see he was bucking against Sugar Belle's body. He noticed me, and tilted his head up to look at me from one eye. "You don't love her." His tone was dismissive. "So I figured I would take her again, give her a measure of what sex with her true, true love would be." As he spoke, he punctuated each few words with another thrust.

Opening my mouth, I tried to tell him to stop, to get off her. I wanted to tell him I loved Sugar Belle, but the words wouldn't come.

"Who do you love, McIntosh Apple? Who do you desire?" The voice startled me. I turned my head to see Feather Bangs sitting across the room, watching. My heart soared, and I started to move towards him. A single raised hoof stalled my movement. "Tell me, McIntosh."

"I love you, Feather. I love you!" The words were real, the truth. I looked at his whole form and could feel my body reacting. Lust, need, adoration, and more vied within me, but all of them pushed my heart towards Feather bangs.

"You don't know the full truth, McIntosh. You need to know that before we continue. I want to make you perfect, but perfect has a price." He stood up, he started walking towards me. "My kind have long called to ponies with song, and some even left the oceans after I did. Three sisters followed me, but not my example."

The fur all along my spine stood up—the same as it did when Princess Twilight performed magic (any unicorn really, but the Princess' was the most potent). I watched Feather Bangs' snout push forward, I watched his ears spread out into fins around his neck. His eyes narrowed into slit pupils, and half his body became fish-like.

My heart raced, Princess Twilight had told me the stories about—

"Sirens." Feather Bangs was a little cramped in the room, now that he was his full self. I had to believe this was him, an earth pony couldn't transform like this. "They were quite literally the worst thing to ever come from the ocean. Have you any idea how hard it was to keep myself hidden once The Pillars knew about our kind?"

Something was odd about Feather. Not odd like "that's disgusting" or "horrible," but I could sense he meant me not a jot of harm. I looked at him, and I couldn't help seeing where his pony beauty had come from. Each curve, each crest of fins, was perfect and sleek. He looked gentle and strong at the same time.

"Regardless. I didn't lie to you, McIntosh. I promised I could make you look exactly how you wanted to, but it will take some adjustment." His words drew me to my hooves, and I got up and approached Feather Bangs.

Feather circled around me, even coiled his tail over my back, and he ignored the rutting ponies on the bed. "A pony can become a siren. A pony can be made perfect. But it takes time, McIntosh. It takes time and commitment."

His touch was anything but fishy. He was smooth, his scaled body gliding over my fur and stroking along me. I let out a little moan until his long body finally stopped, his head and upper torso just before my face. When I looked up into his eyes, he looked amazing. I gulped.

"You know the story of the sisters. I can see that in your eyes. You are afraid, scared, but also intrigued. Tell me what you know of sirens." His voice caressed my ears in much the same way as Stereo Mix's hoof had, and just like then I felt the need to speak.

"They feed of confusion and anger. They left every village they came to a wreck of angry, fighting ponies. When they left ponies still able to be angry, at least." I gulped once more; pinning horrible deeds to the beautiful creature that was before me.

"I don't feed on anger, McIntosh. Surely you know what I feed off?" His words were like silk to my ears: soft, gentle—I wanted more.

I remembered the dancing, how he seemed to come back stronger each time Sugar Belle chose him above me. "Love?" My answer met with a shake of his head. "Lust?" Again he shook his head.

"Adoration, McIntosh, is what me and mine feed off. It is finer than any love, sweeter than any lust, and more pure than anger. When a pony adores you, you are everything to them." As he spoke, Feather leaned closer and closer, and just as our lips brushed he swam around me again, stroking my fur and leaving me shuddering. "You don't hold that for me, you would be a poor meal."

I groaned when a fin seemed to stroke under my belly, but kept away from my shaft. I finally caught on to Feather's movements, and when he swam back around me I leaned forward and caught his lips with a kiss. It was no more than the brushing of flesh, but I saw Feather's eyes flash with power.

"You love me?" I nodded to him. "You want me?" I couldn't stop nodding. "You want me to make you perfect?" Like a toy on a string, I nodded—not that I didn't mean it all with every ounce of my heart. "Then come, the first taste is the one that binds, and you need to be close to take it."

His movements guided me, and I followed without thought of regret. I walked around to the side of the bed nearest to Sugar Belle. She was moaning, her eyes unfocused. I could see her lower body shift with each thrust of Stereo's hips, even spotted a slight push of the stallion's length from inside as it drove into her.

"Sugar Belle?" Feather's words were soft, but with his head right beside mine I heard him clearly. "Sugar Belle? You don't just love McIntosh, do you?"

Her eyes found focus, even as her body shook with each thrust. "I want him. I want him so much…"

As her gaze met mine, I felt something stirring in the air. My fur stood up again, and I sensed magic close. Very close.

Feather spoke again, and the words were so soft and pure that I barely registered them. Sugar did, though. "You adore this pony even though he will never love you back?" She nodded. "Tell him you adore him, Sugar Belle. Tell him and mean it."

Soft whines came from Sugar's throat, timed with the thudding of Stereo's groin against her plot. I watched her lips forming words, but something in her seemed to swell, grow, and call to me. My ears didn't register her words, but instead I heard Feather Bangs. "You see her aura now? How ripe it is?" I nodded weakly. Sugar Belle was wrapped in a cloud of soft yellow light. "Open your mouth."

I had no choice, not now that I had given over everything to be with Feather. I did as he asked and opened my mouth.

"Now swallow." At Feather's words the yellow light flowed up and towards me. I didn't close my mouth. I didn't try to get away. Instead, I inhaled, swallowed, and devoured. The prickly-fur sensation spread all over me, but I ignored it as it sucked and slurped at that light. It poured into me, it filled me in a way I had never been filled before, and it made me feel really good.

"Brother." Stereo's words were harsh to my ears. He sounded like he was yelling, though his lips barely moved. "Master, he drank it all."

"I know, my colt, I know." Feather's words were infinitely softer to my hearing than Stereo's, but still they were too much.

Tucking my ears back, I tried to hide from the brightness of the room, the noise in my ears, and the scraping, sandpaper sensation of Feather's scales on my body.

A New Path

Everything was too bright. I scrunched my eyes closed even after only opening them a sliver. When a booming voice yelled something, I tucked my ears down and lifted my hooves to press my ears tighter. The touch of my own limbs to the top of my head was almost like being bucked.

"Shh. Soft sounds, soft touches." The first thing that wasn't overpowering and deafening, and it sounded like Feather. My heart fluttered and, without thinking of what it might do to me, I rolled over to look at him. He was floating in the air. He was a siren.

The light spilling past the covered windows of the wagon (I finally worked out where I was), stabbed at my eyes, but I knew Feather Bangs was putting on a show just for me—I wouldn't have looked away even if seeing him would blind me. His tail was long, and though he was very much a siren, he wasn't as big as the descriptions of them in Twilight's book had led me to believe. "You're beautiful…"

He seemed to almost glow at my comment, and I saw a sheen of light flash over his eyes. "What would you say, McIntosh, if I said you had similar beauty within yourself, too?" His hoof was gentle, touching under my chin and lifting to make me look up and meet his eyes. Power flashed in him again, but rather than the prickling feeling of magic being used, I felt an echo within me. "Yes. Such beauty as most ponies would never see."

His power called to something inside me, and my memory flashed, reminding me what it was like to eat Sugar Belle's adoration. She had felt so strongly, so purely. I shivered at the feel. The taste had been exquisite, the smell amazing.

"My new colt is distracted by something other than my voice." The tone of petulance in Feather's voice shook me from the daydream. "Having so recently fed for the first time, little fish, I can excuse it."

The words shocked me. I opened my mouth, and was reminded of how sensitive everything was when my deep voice croaked.

"No-no. You don't need to speak. Nod—a little—to agree." I nodded slightly to his words.

Something suddenly started to make a lot more sense. My eyes widened, and I looked up at Feather. "You used magic on me." My voice was harsh still, but I managed to keep it low.

A new voice joined in. "Only a little, brother." Stereo Mix was sitting by the door that led outside. "If you worship me so well, I would use it again."

I was stunned by the admittance and offer. "Mind magic…"

Feather had swum around me, letting my conversation with Stereo continue while his hooves started the most wonderful massage I had ever felt.

"I calmed you down, yesterday, and the time you came here." The tone in Stereo Mix's voice implied that he barely thought that was anything. "Is it so wrong to let you calm down and relax?"

"You made me—" I choked off.

"I gave you something to focus on. Something that had nothing to do with compulsion." Stereo Mix leaned back a bit on the couch and I saw his shaft barely peeking free of his sheathe. "I'm not compelling you now, not a bit. But you want to crawl over here and suck me off."

My eyes widened, and despite every intention to call him out further on the use of such magic, my own words came back to me. "Would it—would it be wrong to just something to calm somepony down…" I stared blindly, by I knew I was facing directly at Stereo—directly at his groin.

"Come and let him adore what I created." Feather's voice was just behind my head, and as he spoke Stereo Mix stood up. "You loved the sight of his hard tool begging to be licked. I made that." His hooves were gentle on my back, but merciless on the stressful knots in my muscles. "Look at how his hips sway with each step. I made that."

With each step Stereo took towards me, I felt hunger. Hunger for him, and hunger to get what Feather Bangs had promised.

"Look at Stereo Mix. I made that. I made him from a poor wretch of a pony. He is beautiful as only a siren can be. I saw the perfection he knew was inside himself, and I brought it out." As Feather Bangs spoke, Stereo climbed up on the bed before me and promptly lay down before he stretched sensually. My eyes gobbled up the perfection I could see in Stereo Mix. "Lean in, McIntosh. Stereo loves it when a pony adores that part of him. Give him what he craves, while I find what is perfect within you."

I looked up Stereo's body. My eyes traced the fur of his barrel, the arch of his chest, and further. I stared into Stereo Mix's eyes and saw eagerness, delight, and I could see in that moment—in his own way—Stereo loved me. He loved seeing me here, my snout barely a hoof's length from his shaft. He parted his lips, but he wasn't going to say anything, he was just so overcome by the now.

Dipping my head forward, I saw Stereo's eyes widen a little, and his features melted into pure bliss. Kissing him, I ran my lips around the swollen tip of his penis. The smell of his musk was almost overwhelming. In my head, I offered all of myself to him, and he took all of me.

A gentle hoof brushed the top of my head. I knew Stereo's touch, and welcomed it. I let his hoof guide me, he gently brushed the back of my head, and I pushed myself down his length. The moment my lips kissed his medial ring the touch changed to a soft ear rub.

Thoughts came and went, and I realized this was like when I pulled the plow. Princess Twilight Sparkle had called it meditation, had told me that it helped a pony find themselves. I knew where I was, and that place was making Stereo Mix a very happy… siren.

I made a happy little groan around him, though he was big enough to keep me from vocalizing with any level of articulation. Then something wonderful happened: Feather Bangs started to massage me.

It wasn't hooves that brushed the fur on my back, but the soft scales of his body, and tiny fins. I shivered, and my fur felt electrified with magic. If I wasn't quite so distracted, I would have turned to see what Feather was doing.

"Relax, little fish, I am working a new pattern into your body. You want to be perfect. You want to be both handsome and beautiful. You want to stand out. You want to be a peacock among drab ponies." It almost felt like Feather pushed his own body into mine as he massaged along my back. Completely relaxed, I let him do as I wished. "When you walk into a room, anypony not completely distracted with your brothers will want to be near you, to touch you. You will be perfect."

His words were everything I wanted to hear. I suckled at Stereo, and kept my eyes turned up to trace along his body. With no way of knowing how good I was at pleasuring him, I just kept trying to move as much of my lips and tongue against Stereo's shaft as I could.

As the massage continued, I started to become aware of a slight draining sensation, and something else: we were moving.

Time passed slowly, and fast. I knew the world moved around us outside, but within the caravan there were only slow, gentle motions. Feather worked all the way from my head down to my back legs. There wasn't a single part of me that didn't know Feather Bangs' scales by the time he was done.

I wound up cuddled against Stereo Mix's belly. The smaller stallion certainly didn't seem small—neither his body nor what was in my mouth. One of his legs wrapped around my shoulders, while the other was still on the back of my head, still the gentlest of touches. It might as well have been a steely grip for all I tested it.

"McIntosh?" I hadn't realized I was dozing—daydreaming. Glamour Trot's voice was in my ear, and my mouth was empty. "Wake up sleepy head, we are almost at the next town."

A tiny whine left my empty mouth. I longed to be full of Stereo's shaft again, and then his magic flexed and fell away from me. I could feel where Stereo's magic had touched, and he had been as gentle as the hoof on my head. Calmness had been his gift: the ability to just relax and let Feather work his own magic.

"Where are we?" I stretched and sat up on the bed, and couldn't stop myself from yawning. Rather than Stereo, Glamour Trot was in the wagon with me.

"Fallstown. A little village overlooking Neighagra." Glamour pressed something to my mane, and as his magic pulled what was obviously a brush through my mane, I sighed. "You have a wonderful amount of hair, but brother, what do you wash this with?"

I blinked and turned a little to look at Glamour. "Water."

Glamour's eyes widened and he stared at me with every indication of shock. "And I suppose next you're going to tell me you only bathed in the stream near your farm?" His voice was loaded with more sarcasm than I was used to.

I gave a sigh. "Nnope. Ah washed in the water trough."

The clatter of the brush Glamour Trot's magic had been holding, as it hit the floor, was loud in the wagon. "Are you joking? Please tell me you're joking." I was a second from replying when he continued, "You aren't joking!"

While I watched, Glamour raced to the end of the wagon and left it. From outside I could hear his voice rising into a shrill shout, but I couldn't make out his words. I stepped off the bed to stand on my own hooves, and realized I felt funny all over. An odd tingling was still running through me.

Poking my head out the back of the wagon, I found myself looking right into Feather Bangs' eyes. My face curved into a big smile, and I lost myself into those depths.

"He has it bad. Look at that." Smooth Vibes' voice came from one side, but I could barely notice him, not when Feather was looking back and smiling.

Feather Bangs' smile lit up the world around him, and I knew mine grew in response. I took a step towards him, not even thinking about things like the wagon actually moving, stepping off the back step maybe being bad, or even that gravity was a thing.

The moment my hoof fished for solid footing and fount only air was far too late. My large body was in motion, and as my weight transferred to the empty air I started to fall.

"Such a clumsy colt. Don't you worry, I'll get you back on your hooves and get your mane shining." Light blue magic bubbled and rippled around me, cradling me in Glamour's power. He lowered me slowly to the ground, and I managed to arrange my legs under me just right for the moment his magic blinked out.

I looked at the three ponies and felt hugely out of place. In the dim light of the wagon, and with enchanting—in the literal sense, and figurative—stallions around me, I could forget how I looked. I was the odd pony out. If Feather, Stereo, Glamour, and Smooth walked down the street together, and I stood beside them, everypony would immediately assume I wasn't with them.

Lowering my head, I prepared to follow along if for just for the shadow of their beauty. I got four, plodding steps behind me before a golden hoof touched under my chin, and lifted my head up and lined my eyes up directly with Feather's green, deep orbs. I froze, and when his lips touched mine it was like a blast of cool air.

The simple embrace cut through the insecurity like a knife. Feather drew his lips back, and I felt a deep longing to follow his movement—to maintain the contact. "Hey, little fish, no need to be glum. We have a town to woo, and fill our tums."

Somehow, thinking of an ancient and powerful siren referring to their stomach as a tum made me smile a lot more than it should. Then something sank in; I looked up, judging the time to be late afternoon. "How long since we left Our Town?"

Glamour and Smooth both looked at Feather with surprised expressions. "Now now, boys, just because our little fish is big and speaks slow, doesn't mean he is stupid." Feather Bangs looked pleased as punch. "If you were a foal, and wanted easy answers, I would tell you it hasn't been long. But you're not a foal, and you want the real answer."

I nodded, and tried to brace myself.

"Two and a half days." Feather walked beside me, holding my gaze with his own. "Being a clever fish, I want to know what that means to you."

With a gulp I nodded. "It means, uh, that since I don't feel achingly hungry…" I trailed off, finding it hard to admit that I had fed on Sugar Belle's adoration for me. But I had to be honest: Feather had asked me for what I thought. "Was eatin' Sugar Belle's love—"

Feather cut in. "Adoration. Changelings eat love."

I blinked at the correction. "Was eating her adoration enough for two days?"

"You didn't just eat her adoration, little fish, you drained what she felt for you completely. The first feeding is always like that. For some it can be cruel; once such emotions are drunk in that way, they will never grow back." Feather gave a little nod to his own words. "Anything else?"

I mused on it. "Why do you keep callin' me, 'little fish'?"

"You'll see that when we reach the bathhouse." Feather pointed ahead and to the left of the road. Shifting to look where he pointed, I could see Neighagra Falls in the distance, and exactly where he pointed was a large building on the shore of the lake at the bottom of the falls.

Something odd occurred to me. "Isn't the town at the top?"

Smooth slipped in at my side, walking so that his legs and hips brushed my legs with each step. "Yeah, but we don't stay in towns. It's too easy for somepony to see one of us in our more natural shapes."

"And more so here." Glamour weighed in, weaving his head back and forth as if to work a kink out of his neck. "Being so close to so much water makes it harder to focus on being a pony."

We had walked in silence up until the wagon reached the front of what was apparently a bathhouse. Stereo Mix had been pulling the wagon, and slowed to a stop right out the front of the building. I was staring at the strange looking building, when one of the panels (that looked to be made of paper) slid aside to reveal a mare.

"Well. If it isn't Master Feather Bangs." As each word came from the mare's mouth, I watched her eyes unfocus more, and a look of pure delight cover her features. She went from self-possessed to simpering in just a hoofful of syllables. "Please, Master, right this way!"

"Bath Salts." Feather Bangs walked up and directly before the mare. "This is your bathhouse, never forget that, but it would be so refreshing if you would do us the honor of letting us stay here. Just for a little while."

The mare stared into Feather's eyes, and her cheeks filled out with blush. "Master Feather Bangs, my house is yours, always." She froze as Feather's lips came down and met her cheek.

At my side, Glamour Trot snorted softly. "He kisses you on the lips, remember that."

"Ah can't help but remember his lips." The words were out of my mouth before I realized I had said them. "What did he do to her?"

"Bath Salts? It's a long story, brother, but we have some time." Glamour lifted his hooves into a prancing walk. "A little while ago, we arrived here and found Bath (she was only barely a mare then), trying to tell her evil old uncle that her parents had left the bathhouse to her and not him.

"Well, I call him an evil old uncle, but he wasn't a bad sort. Running a bathhouse really wasn't his thing, though, and all he could see in Bath Salts was a filly who needed looking after. We arrived just as he had plucked her up and was carrying her away in his magic." We reached the front door, and a prostrate Bath Salts kept her head low in deference. Glamour went on. "Call us monsters if you would, but when you see a stallion carrying a filly off, with the filly screaming her lungs out… It doesn't take a princess to see something is wrong there.

"Feather slid up to the stallion, and while he had the uncle distracted, I sang them both a song to calm them down. The story, that they could both tell because they weren't trying to do 'what was best,' was a little sad, but Feather saw a filly who would stand up against her uncle even just days after her parents had died.

"We stayed here longer than we had anywhere else, ever. Feather wouldn't let Bath so much as blow her nose without one of us nearby. When she was of an age to manage the place legally, we left her to it. We didn't even feed on her—Feather forbade it."

I tried to focus on the words as we walked inside the bathhouse. On one side it appeared like an inn: a big common room, with what looked like bedrooms leading off that. On the other it was all about comfort: a series of medium-sized rooms with massage tables, mane-styling sections, and more. The back of the building, when Feather led the way through to it, was a huge bath in the lake itself. The building was walled in, however, so that despite the water being shared with the lake, there was complete privacy.

"We didn't leave until Bath Salts was a mare of majority. She was in charge and on her own hooves." Glamour Trot smiled at the few mares and stallions working at the bathhouse as he walked, and I noticed he winked at every single one. "This place wouldn't be here if not for Feather Bangs, and Bath Salts knows it.

"I hope you like swimming, little fish."

"Uh, I guess." As we reached the end of the wide hall that ran the length of the bathhouse, we found the huge walled off section of the lake. And just as I stopped Feather Bangs gave a laugh and launched himself at the water.

Apparently the workers in the bathhouse were in on things, because when he hit the water Feather Bangs became his true self. His body stretched, filled out, grew. He was a siren, but even as such Feather Bangs was slim. I stepped a little closer to the edge, so I could see him swimming, and my breath caught in my throat.

"Beautiful, isn't he?" Smooth Vibes pressed against my side. "Don't you just want to dive in and join him?"

"Dive in, and touch him?" Stereo Mix took up my other flank, and I was squeezed between the two smaller stallions. "Dive in, and seduce him?" Stereo's mouth brushed up the side of my head, and he kissed my ear.

A second splash surprised me; Glamour Trot dove into the water. As the water flowed along him, I watched his flesh shimmer and stretch too. His back legs shrank up against his belly as fins, and his rump seemed to stretch out into a long tail. He wasn't as big as Feather, and his front half still retained its pony features, but it was obvious Glamour was more siren than pony.

"Are you all…?" I gulped.

"Are we all sirens? Not as much as Glamour is. He has been with Feather a long time." While Stereo Mix nuzzled and nibbled at one ear, while Smooth Vibes lifted his head up and found my other.

"We're all sirens, little fish, and you are the newest. Come on, show us how you swim." Smooth actually stumbled a little, messing up his namesake movement as he entered the lake. Stereo Mix was much more graceful. I watched the two stallions change a little. Fins and a stocky (but short) tail formed on each.

All of them moved gracefully through the water, but none as smooth or elegant as Feather Bangs. I watched him so closely that I didn't notice he swam right up to the edge and lifted his upper body free of the water. "Join us." He reached up with a hoof that was almost as big around as mine—despite his larger body, I still physically dwarfed him.

Reaching my own hoof out, I struggled against every instinct that told me Feather was a predator in his natural environment, and took hold of his hoof. "What are you—" I didn't get another word out; Feather Bangs pulled.

If I had enough time to brace against the tug, I could have fought it. As it was Feather's strength surprised me, and I pitched forwards.

The moment I hit the water something felt different. I had swum in rivers before, and even a big pool one time, but the water around me felt right, good, and despite my initially flailing limbs, I found myself relaxing in the cool lake.

Feather didn't leave me for long. He hooked his forelegs around mine, pulling my belly against himself, and with a flick of his tail we shot through the water. "How do you feel, McIntosh?"

I wanted to scream and shout how good it felt to be in the water, and when I looked into Feather Bangs' eyes, I did. It was impossible to hold back once the first shout left me. I let the exuberance pour from my mouth.

Words to explain how good the water felt failed me. I wanted to tell Feather everything that felt good, but there was too much. In all the books I had read in Twilight's library, and castle, none held the appropriate emotions for this moment.

Between Feather and Glamour, I felt weightless and tiny in the water. They swam me around, and for a time I could forget my huge, awkward self. But it couldn't last. Feather left the job of guiding me back to the walkway to Glamour Trot, not that Glamour was any less powerful or graceful in the water.

"You trust me, little fish?" Glamour's face looked bigger than normal, and I realized it was part of his transformation, but it made him almost seem the same physical size as me. Held to his chest, floating in the water with only my head and shoulders above the surface, I nodded. His soft lips pressed to mine, and a shudder of delight ran through me. Glamour inverted us, our lips still locked together, and dove.

My eyes rolled up, and before I could try to clamp my nose closed or shake loose, Glamour breathed fresh air out. My eyes returned to his, in time for another breath, and I could only stare into his dancing, slit eyes.

The blue of Glamour Trot's eyes was bottomless, and I was held in them (and his forelegs) until the bottom of the lake came up to meet us. Breath after breath he fed me through our kiss, and bubbles flowed from my nose in repeating puffs.

I held a little tighter, but not for fear that he would let go of me. I was completely weightless, and in Glamour's embrace I felt small. He was giving me a taste of the future as well as his mouth.

Glamour gave me the slightest of nods, breathed into my mouth one more time, and then turned us around again. The rise to the surface was nowhere near as leisurely as the descent; Glamour's tail worked fast, hard. I held onto the last breath he gave me as the surface rushed towards us.

As we broke the surface, I yelled in excitement. It felt so good to be in the water that the shock of gravity pulling on me distracted me from the fact that Glamour used magic to place us both back on the walkway.

I stared down at my legs, and though I was heavier than usual thanks to all the water, I felt more alive than ever before in my life.

"Feather! Our little fish likes swimming. He will need some fins of his own soon." Glamour Trot kissed my cheek before prancing away. I watched him, his pony-shape looking as perfect as ever, and couldn't help but think how beautiful he had been in the water.

"You did the kiss-dive-breathing thing, didn't you?" Stereo Mix was walking away at Glamour Trot's side, the two chatting. I couldn't hear Glamour's reply, but Stereo gave a squeal of excitement. "I knew it! Nothing else gets a new fish that weak at the knees!"

"You're new. They called you 'little fish'." Bath Salts' voice was right beside me. I turned to look at her and, though she gestured forward, her head was lowered respectfully.

"Eeyup." My old friend, if a word could be a friend, had a new lilt to it. I stepped forward, following her gesture.

"It's good to see Master Feather in love again. Come this way, no need to dry off." Bath moved at my side, heedless that my size would ever be a problem. She guided me into a room separate from all the rest. "Please, lay down on the bench and relax. Feather told me you have never had your mane and tail washed before. It is my honor to be the first."

I was completely unsure now. Of course I had washed my mane and tail before; for Cranky's wedding I had dunked myself in the trough four times, if that wasn't washing then I had no idea what was.

Bath Salts' hooves were everywhere, or so it seemed. She guided me onto the bench (dripping wet as I was), and guided me to lay down on my side. I couldn't see what she was doing, but I felt her hooves lift my wet mane and start to work at it.

Not since I was a foal had somepony washed my mane for me. Her hooves didn't pull, instead gently teasing the hair, and I could feel when she deposited something into my mane.

"Glamour has a way with relaxation." By her tone, I figured Glamour had probably been "specially" relaxing to her. I kept my mouth closed, however, and let Bath continue leading the conversation. "He taught me how to massage a pony. Did he tell you my story?"

"Err." The sound left my lips before I realized it, and I knew it signaled to her that not only had I heard her question, but probably her story too. "Eeyup." I would have nodded, too, but the softest tugging at my mane would be interrupted if I moved too much.

"He was really awkward when I called him master the first time, it's why I keep doing it. That stallion is entirely too full of himself, but he cared for me when I needed it, and he doesn't prey here." Bath rinsed out my mane with water, and then lathered my mane back up with shampoo.

"He's a monster." I didn't know I'd said it until the words came to my ears.

She was in no rush to talk, and for the first time in my life I found myself completely calm talking to a mare. She rinsed out my mane a second time, and started rubbing something new through it. "You are too; I heard what Glamour and Stereo were talking about. If he is such a monster, why are you here with him?" Her question was to the point, which I could appreciate.

"I'm in love." It was so much easier to say now. I let out a sigh that I knew would be more at home coming from a young mare talking about her first love. "I love Feather Bangs."

"And what of Glamour Trot? Stereo Mix? Smooth Vibes? Do you think they love him too?" She slowly rinsed out my mane again, and then wheeled whatever she was using down to my back half.

I waited until Bath started washing my tail before replying. "Maybe. I guess." I hadn't actually thought on it, and focused some more. Each of the stallions had been very "friendly" with me, had helped me relax and feel good, and each had called me brother. I took a slow breath. "Ah think Ah'm okay with that."

Like my mane, Bath Salts washed my tail repeatedly, her hooves even rubbing my dock a little in the process. "That's a very southern Equestria accent for a stallion this far north. Pear?"

Knowing my family history completely now, I chuckled. "More Apple, but there's some Pear blood here, too." Just mentioning my family made my heart thud a little harder. "Ah miss 'em already."

"You want to know why I honor Feather so much?" Bath Salts' tone was sympathetic with my plight. I nodded. "I had a family. My father and mother were older ponies, and—and then they weren't there. My family was gone, and I had an uncle who thought he knew what was right.

"Feather Bangs didn't replace my father or mother, but he came close. When I needed help, he was always there, and always patient. Glamour, Stereo, and Smooth are like brothers. When I see their wagon arrive, my heart soars. This is their home whenever they visit because without them it wouldn't be a home." Bath rinsed out my tail for what felt like the tenth time. "Okay, this is all done."

When I started to move, Bath placed a gentle hoof on my side. I froze, fully aware that only my acceptance of her kept me in place. She loosed a little chuckle. "We still need to brush out your mane."

I slumped back, my muscles going limp again. "Alright." I barely got the word out before the first stroke of her brush ran through my mane. If the gentle massage of my mane and tail during the washing had been relaxing, this was threatening coma. I let out a little groan and felt myself relax to a whole new level.

"Just relax, be calm, and leave this up to me." Her words, slow and even, could almost have been as well-honed a mind attack as any Glamour Trot had used, but for her there was no magic involved. Again and again her brush stroked, and each pass made it harder to stay awake.

Before she even got to my tail, I lost my fight. My eyes closed, my breathing steadied into long, deep breaths, and I trusted the strange mare to look after me.

Satiation

My dreams were a strange mix of aquatic and arousing. Glamour Trot featured strongly in them, his lips pressed to mine; breathing with me. In my subconscious our dive lasted for years, stretched impossibly long by the magic that happens when you sleep.

I could have remained in his embrace the entire time, but while we floated in the grip of the water, I felt a touch at my scrotum. Normally such a place would be sensitive to attack, but this wasn't an attack. It felt like a something closed around my balls and gently squeezed, pressing at them in a wonderful way.

Clinging tighter to Glamour, I groaned into his wonderful lips, and matched my body to his. The sensation between my back legs grew stronger, and continued throughout the remainder of the dream. For some time it felt like nuzzling, then licking, then back to more sucking. It was bliss.

"He's waking up. Look how hard our little fish is. He is so big and so hard." Stereo's voice was plain to me, but as my brain eased from sleep to wakefulness, I realized the sucking of my balls was not a dreamt-of experience, but a reflection of the real world. "Oh, there he is. I told you, Gentle, he is such a big softy. If I hadn't woke him, you could have kept that up all night."

A popping sensation pulled me completely from my drowsiness, and I realized it was a pony pulling their mouth off my scrotum. I looked along my body to see a stocky-built pegasus stallion grinning to me. Awkward seconds passed, while I stared at the strange stallion, before something long and hard bumped my nose. I looked up to see Stereo's belly above me, and of course it was his shaft in my face.

The old McIntosh would have freaked out. He would have panicked and run away. I took a deep inhale of Stereo's musk, and licked along his length.

"There's our little fish. You know how perfect I am, don't you?" Stereo Mix's words stole a nod from me before I licked him again. "And you know how lucky you are to be allowed to worship my shaft?" I nodded again, and licked one more time before pulling back from him.

"Ah know it, Stereo." Rather than focus on my new brother, I looked down at the stranger. Introducing myself seemed only fair after what he had done. "M' name's McIntosh. You can call me Big Mac."

"I could see that." His hoof reached down to gently massage my balls one last time, then stroke up my hard shaft and earning a shiver that started at my dock and rattled all the way to the tip of my nose. "My name's Gentle Massage." He held out the white hoof he had just used to stir my arousal, and I noticed the soft brown flecks hidden from the surface of his otherwise white fur.

Pushing forward my bigger hoof, he clopped his against mine without seeming to notice the size difference. Stereo Mix gestured at the door of what seemed to be my room (although it could have been Gentle's for all I knew). "Come on, little brother, we're going fishing."

Sparing another look to Gentle Massage, I got a smile and a wink from him. "Uh…"

"A kiss goodbye would be nice." The smile on Gentle's lips was in no way chaste. He looked at me with an openly happy expression.

My heart beat faster, and a little voice in my head informed me that this would be the first non-siren stallion I had kissed. The same voice told me that since I was a siren too now—in whatever tiny part that was—and it was something new to explore.

Gentle Massage's lips were soft, welcoming. He made a soft sound in his throat, and I only felt urged on by it. Hunger stirred, but I couldn't feel what Sugar Belle had been; the need circled around like a shark within.

Surprising me, Gentle broke the kiss first, and I immediately felt the desire to press and clutch at him, to take more time kissing. "Your brother's impatient." Gentle's words earned him a laugh from Stereo.

"You know you can relax and just adore me later…" Stereo Mix's eyes held a hunger so complete that it made mine sing through me in response. "…together.

I didn't care that it made me look like a foal chasing his first love, I jumped off the bed and followed Stereo Mix out the door. It wasn't lust that stirred my reaction, not fully at least, but hunger. We were two of a kind. Predators.

"You can watch tonight, little brother. We are going to stir the hearts of the townsfolk, and see what fish take the bait. If a mare or stallion approaches you, bring them along and share kisses only. No feeding until we tell you." As he spoke, Stereo Mix practically pranced. His form was lithe, and I knew well that he was an amazing dancer. I didn't realize he was looking at me until I traced his form all the way to his head. "Little brother, are you checking me out?" His tone was playful.

"Uh." I thought not about what I would normally say, but rather about what I could say if I was completely honest. "Eeyup." One of his eyebrows rose. "Ah remember your dancing, how smoothly you moved."

Stereo Mix's smile lit up his face. "The truth is often so uncommon in our way of life. It is wonderful to hear you say that."

We walked out the front of the bathhouse, and started up the switchback leading to the town. To my complete lack of surprise, Stereo took every chance to have me walking behind him. He didn't move slow, forcing me to push myself, and by the time we reached the top I felt like I had run a race—which I kinda had.

Waiting at the top of the track was Feather Bangs and Smooth Vibes. I looked between them, and saw smiles widen on their faces—particularly Feather bangs'. "McIntosh, how do you feel?"

It was like he knew exactly what I would be feeling, so I answered the truth. "Hungry, a little hor-horny." My eyes shifted to Stereo Mix for a fraction of a second, and I saw Feather's smile widen further. "I felt like I wanted to eat Gentle, but he didn't feel right."

Feather moved so fast I barely saw him even twitch a muscle. He rushed up right before me and looked into my eyes. I was stuck, locked in place gazing back into the green depths of his eyes. "Little fish, I command you right now, and forever, never feed under Bath Salts' roof. Her and hers are off limits. Am I clear?"

My head moved on its own, or rather, I tracked Feather's eyes as they looked up and down. Though Feather Bangs had no horn, I could feel powerful magic pooling around us.

"Feather, I was there." Stereo Mix nuzzled gently at Feather's side to get his attention away from me. "I was making sure. He would not have fed."

Feather's eyes lost their power, and he blinked. "All the same, McIntosh, heed my warning." He turned and gestured to the town. "Places, everypony!"

Stereo Mix gestured ahead to the town, too. "Little brother, find somewhere in the town. From your last performance, you can't dance with us, but we can set you up as somepony's idol. Find a spot in town, stare at us with indifference as we dance through."

My eyes were still on Feather, but after his moment of command he seemed completely relaxed again, calm. I began to wonder just what I had gotten into when he turned to me again, and kissed me. "It's my fault, McIntosh. Just after your first feed, and I bring you to a place where there is so many, tasty morsels. Come on, tonight you can feed, and then we will retire to the baths and work on you a little more."

I expected to calm down, but rather than relax after Feather telling me that it wasn't my fault, I felt my hunger leap, and an excitement grow within me. I nodded to him, and following Stereo's words, began to walk into town.

The town above Neighagra Falls was sleepy, or so it seemed. There was four streets that criss-crossed, with shops and houses lining them. Ponies were still wandering around in the evening air, talking, playing games, and not suspecting what was coming. Or what was already here.

Standing out was easy when you were my size. I stood out, and for the first time ever it didn't feel bad. I didn't walk down the street, I prowled. Ponies waved to me, and I smiled back and nodded to them, but I kept from engaging in actual conversation—something I had inadvertently done for years. I found my spot easily enough.

Two thirds of the way through town was a small alleyway between two shops. I stopped there, with groups of ponies out front of each shop talking. My hunger stirred stronger, more fierce, and it was everything I could do to hold back from trying to feed on my own. Then the music started.

Feather's music was nothing like what common ponies would play. There was a beat rising, deep, beating like a heart but only half as fast. Everypony turned their heads to see what was happening, and I was reminded just how much ponies love a show.

Voices sang, Stereo, Glamour, and Smooth sang backing for Feather, and his words were for everypony. I stared at first, unable to look away as Feather danced and sang a line to every adult pony he passed. A mare here, a stallion there (mostly confused), all looked after him with a measure of longing.

Stereo's instructions came back to me, and I fought to turn my head away from the magnificent sight of Feather Bangs dancing. He moved with fluid grace that anypony would be jealous of (I know I was), and when he turned his attention on a pony they would always blush at being the center of his attention. Eeyup, I had to pull myself away from that.

Looking at the ponies in front of the shop beside me, I managed to catch one mare's eyes, and rolled mine. She giggled at me, and for a fraction of a second I realized I wouldn't know when my new brothers would reach me.

"… a big handsome, delicious stallion. Oh-wa-oh!" Feather Bangs moved passed me, but Stereo Mix, Glamour Trot, and Smooth Vibes pounced upon me.

Glamour spread himself along my back, Smooth Vibes sidled up to my side, and Stereo Mix landed right before me. I stared at the mare over Stereo's head, and then all three of their lips found mine.

Glamour used his magic to pull my head around by my mane, and I felt the softness of each of them against my lips. Only one eye could catch the mare's face, but she was staring right at me—blushing. As quick as my brothers had arrived, they spun off to continue supporting Feather Bangs. I noticed none approached the group of ponies I had been gazing into.

I shook my head, freed of the haze of siren-song, and turned to look back for the mare. She wasn't there anymore; she was right in front of me. I couldn't get a word out, but she opened her mouth and robbed me of the need to start a conversation. "This may sound strange, but how did that feel?"

She wasn't nearly as tall as me (few mares that didn't have both horn and wings were), she the unicorn mare had a big blush in her already pink cheeks, and her startlingly blue mane cascaded around her head, framing her face. To her side, a stallion (also a unicorn) nodded his head, and I could see him wearing the same blush.

His fur was a soft yellow, almost cream, and he had a spill of blue mane that matched the mare's. He was also staring at my lips. Inside my belly, the hunger practically shrieked, but Stereo's command came back. I wouldn't feed until he had found me again. "Would you like to find out?"

Both ponies nodded their heads, then both turned to look at each other and blushed more. The hunger within me called for me to at least taste one of them. "Are you together?" My words stole their attention back to me, and both nodded. The silly novels in Twilight's library seemed to fill my head with terrible lines to use, and my hunger goaded me on. "Then find out together." I leaned forward a little, and curved my lips into a smile.

Both ponies' lips were soft. The mare's were hungry immediately, working and sucking at the left side of my mouth, while the stallion seemed a little hesitant on the right. I looked at them both, and each had their eyes closed. I pushed my tongue to the right and out, and the stallion's eyes flew open when I breached his mouth.

He tasted of sweet pastry, soft daisies, and mare. I knew for a fact that if I tasted the mare's mouth I would find his taste, and would find her own unique flavor matched that of his mouth. So I did. I swapped sides, kissing the mare firmly, pressing on her to the stallion's neglect, and she tasted just as wonderfully as I had hoped.

Reversing, I broke contact with the mare and reengaged with the surprised stallion, just as I head a soft laugh from my side. Turning my head slightly, keeping my lips pressed to the stranger's, I saw Stereo Mix come up beside me.

"You netted two, at the same time? Little fish, you cast your rod well. There will be one for each of us." Once Stereo finished talking, he leaned under and kissed the mare.

It felt good and right to be tasting alongside my brother, and I tasted the stallion's mouth again. His eyes fluttered shut, and I realized how strange and arousing this would be for him—I had been in his position once.

Pulling barely a hair's breadth away from the stallion, I had to pull my tongue back from his mouth.

"Come on, show my brother and me where you morsels are staying." Stereo Mix's words had the stallion and mare both look to a house across the street and down a few rows. "Well, come on!"

"Are-Are we going to-to with them?" My heart beat hard in my chest, but I followed Stereo, and together we led the two enamored ponies to their own home.

Walking up boldly to the front door, Stereo Mix opened it and gestured within. "What we do with them is completely up to them." He grinned over the backs of the two ponies as they passed between us and into the house. "Mostly."

"'Mostly'?" I walked in after the couple, turning my head to watch Stereo follow us all into the home.

"A transaction. We give what they want, they give what we need. If what they want strays to what we enjoy, it is no foul to engage in some familiar play." As he walked in, I could see Stereo was already aroused a little, his shaft starting to peek down from his sheath. "We need to split our meal three ways. You will get one, I get half of the other, and the remaining goes to Feather. He waived his due from you, little fish, because you haven't yet started your molt."

"My molt?" I walked deeper into the house, and could hear the two ponies giggling in a bedroom. I could taste what I knew to be their adoration slipping, and my hooves pushed me to follow them.

The moment I stepped into the open doorway, both ponies turned to look at me. My hunger surged, and I could see longing in both of their faces.

"Molt. Change. Transformation." Stereo Mix advanced up to my side and looked past me—into the room. "Wow they have it for you. Okay. Game plan: I'll take the stallion and you can have the mare. Look at the way he is watching you, he knows what you are here to do." His voice was barely a whisper, but close as Stereo was, I could hear him perfectly. "This is totally Glamour's thing, but I think we can handle it."

"W-W-What do I do?" I was out of my league. I stared at the mare, and compared her to each of my fillyfriends until I found her body type in Cheerilee. My memories of Cheerilee were oddly vivid thanks to the love poison my little sister had given me.

I advanced on the mare, my blood boiling, and I watched her eyes trail all over me with hunger in them. Shuddering as I got close enough to smell her arousal, I was distracted suddenly by the stallion. "What are you going to do to her?"

Stereo Mix was right beside the stallion, slipping up close and lifting his chin up to put his mouth level with one of the unicorn stallion's ears. "You know she wants him."

The stallion froze, stared at me, and then stared down at what was coming from my own sheath. I knew I was big. Every mare I had been with had told me I was a big stallion. The male half of our meal looked at "me" and nodded.

"And you want him to take her, don't you?" Stereo's eyes were staring parallel to the other stallion's. They both watched me, and I struggled to keep my focus on the mare. Struggled, and failed. When I turned to face the stallion, I saw naked desire in his expression. "Tell him what you want him to do, and he will do it."

Under Stereo's coaching the stallion gulped and nodded again. He opened his mouth, licked his lips, and whispered some words.

Stereo tutted softly. "A little louder. My brother is a big, powerful stallion, and he needs such a little male to be loud for him to hear."

"I want him to fuck my wife." I saw the whites of the stallion's eyes seem to take up all the room in them. When Stereo gently nibbled at the hapless stallion's ear, he squeezed his eyes closed. "I want that big stallion to fuck my wife. I want her to beg him for more. I want him to throw her away after he is done with her and leave…" After a moment of gulping his unsaid words down, the stallion lowered his head. "I want him to leave her so satisfied she could never appreciate what I have again."

"That was well said. You are a good stallion for your wife, you know?" Stroking the stallion's mane now, Stereo was all honeyed words and calm. "But you didn't need to tell him, you know. My brother would fuck the wife of any weak little colt."

I snapped my focus back to the mare, and I saw her staring at her husband not with shock, but delight. Her smell had grown in focus and in readiness. It didn't take much to realize that these ponies were together because of their shared tastes. When I took a step toward her, the mare's attention shifted to me.

Moving a little, I watched as the mare turned her back-end towards me. Cheerilee had never lifted her tail like this. She had never offered herself as this mare was. But this unicorn's passivity was all wrong. He wanted me to take her, and she wanted it too if her look at him was any indication.

I was rock hard—at the scent leaking off the mare I would have had to be nose-deaf not to be affected—and let out a grunt of appreciation. Stepping over the mare, I lifted one big hoof up and pressed down on her shoulders. She held my weight for a few seconds, but as I put more and more force down, and her shoulders quivered, and she slumped down.

Glancing back, I saw the stallion watching us. His eyes were like saucers, but under him I could see his shaft: he was rock hard and leaking a slow stream of ejaculate. I didn't know when he had reached a climax, but I figured I would give him more of a show regardless. "She's mine t'night."

And with that I drove my hips forward. And missed my mark. I didn't dare look back or curse, either would show that I hadn't meant it. Instead, I pushed all the way forward, until my hips pressed into her rump, and pressed down.

"He's training her. He's forcing her into a position of ultimate submission." Stereo's smooth words were loud enough for me to hear, but more importantly they were loud enough for the mare to hear. The time was right for me to look back, and I gave my best smug look—which is to say I probably messed it up.

Stereo Mix wasn't riding the stallion, all my brother did was stand beside them and whisper in their ear. My preconception about sex being all sirens did, broke.

"Please." The mare's voice startled me. I leaned my weight onto her a little more. "Please take me."

Leaning so that my mouth was by one of her ears, I kept my voice low. "Maybe I won't." I drew my hips back and shoved forward again, my shaft rock hard under her. I started to see what Stereo had meant. "Maybe I will hump you, spray my seed all over you, and leave you for your husband to think I took his right." Memories of some of the more lurid books in Twilight's library came to mind, and I could remember phrases that came in handy now.

"N-No. Please…" Her voice was so soft that I could barely hear it.

It didn't matter anymore. I could claim her or not, but she wanted me to. "Tell me how much you want me." It really was both their fantasy. "Tell me how much you want a real stallion." I waited for her to open her mouth, the words already forming in her throat, before I pulled back, adjusted my stance, and pushed forward.

With her mouth open, the mare let out a squeal as I shoved into her body. Behind us, however, I heard a stallion's groan as he reached climax—it wasn't Stereo. My hips pulled back a little, then shoved forward again. Under me, the mare struggled to keep her legs straight and her rear up.

"Go on. Tell him. My brother takes requests." Stereo's words were raised, so I could hear them.

The stallion's hesitant voice took four of my powerful thrusts to make sense. "I want you to show me how a real stallion breeds—breeds a mare. Take me…"

My body was acting automatically, like any stallion's would. I bucked into the mare, surrounded by her grunts and groans, but it was her husband who had my attention. I stared into his eyes, and realized I saw real desire, real adoration there. His wife's own aura was visible too, now. Both ponies wanted what we were giving them with every fiber of their being.

Stereo nodded to me from where he stood beside the stallion. "Feed, little brother."

I turned to look down at the mare, watched the swirling mass of adoration around her, and lowered my mouth. Stroking my tongue across her aura, I tasted her absolute need for what I could give. She was much stickier, sweeter than Sugar Belle. Her taste wasn't unpleasant, just different. Opening my mouth wide, I took a bite of her aura.

"That's it little brother, take your fill. Both of them want what only you can give, but I can work with that." Stereo's tone changed to something a little darker. I licked and took another bite of the mare's adoration, and it tasted beyond amazing.

A sense stirred in me. I turned from my feast to see Stereo with his mouth open, with a set of odd—for a pony—fangs. He bit down on the aura of the stallion, and in that moment I saw the stallion reach his peak—again.

Stereo Mix's eyes met mine, and we shared a wolfish grin that I didn't know I had in me. We were brothers. We were predators. We had found prey.

I turned back to my feast, only then noticing how much the mare's body hugged at my shaft. I licked her aura, and another clench almost stole the momentum from my thrust. "More." It wasn't a question, but the mare's answering whimper was just the answer I wanted. I licked again and again, timing my slow meal with the motion of my body into hers.

My peak was coming, and I might have wanted to claim her completely, but Stereo's words came back to me. I had to clench down hard at the roar of lightning that started lancing pleasure through my groin. Pulling back off the mare, I shoved her sideways with a hoof.

She stared up at me; her eyes were a little glassy, and a little confused. I adjusted my stance so that I simply stood over her. "Finish me with your magic." The fear and panic left her eyes, and her smell sweetened. She looked truly beautiful, and as her horn lit up I felt her magic grip around me.

Her inner body stroked me, and each stroke earned her a bite. She tasted even better now: sweet, succulent. I let loose a bellow as she brought me back to the edge of my release, and pushed me over it.

My body felt like a torrent of liquid passed through me. I had to brace my legs and lean down. The smell of the mare's aura stirred my mouth, and I opened wide to take a huge bite. Under me, I heard a deep moan from the mare who I was painting with my seed.

Turning from the mare, still loosing seed in irregular jets, I faced her husband. He had the glassy look too, and I could tell that Stereo had fed well from him.

One of Stereo Mix's hooves hung down the right side of the stallion, from where Stereo lay atop him. I could tell that Stereo hadn't claimed him, but he was giving his victim a slow hoof-job. "You see? He claimed her, she belongs to my brother now." Stereo's eyes were locked on mine as he whispered into the stallion's ear, his hoof not slowing its constant stimulation of his shaft. "You have to ask my brother if you can even touch her, now."

It was as twisted a scenario as I could never have thought of, but the look in the stallion's eyes told me it was everything he had ever wanted. His mouth worked, but no sound came from him.

Stereo took the stallion's nearest ear in his mouth and drove one sharp fang through it. Teasing backwards, he worried at the stallion's pierced ear before letting it go. "Ask him, or never be able to touch your mare again."

"C-C-Can I…" He seemed unable to go further.

I stepped close to the stallion and watched his nose work, drawing in the smell of rutting stallion. I opened my mouth and licked his aura. "You're mine too. Beg me for the right of breeding my mare." It was a game, but lost in the post-feeding satiation, I played along with Stereo's game.

The stallion dropped to his belly. He stared up at me with awe and desperation in his eyes—and adoration. "Please, Master, may I fill her with foals?"

My shaft had one last shot in it, one last blast of semen. It landed betwixt the stallion's eyes and nose, right on the bridge of his nose. I rumbled a laugh at him. "You may." I watched him shudder, I watched those two words cause the stallion to climax without Stereo Mix's touch at all.

"Come on, brother." Stereo launched himself off the stallion's back. "We have fed well tonight, and maybe we will come back for this pair again before we leave." Jaunty of stride, my brother pranced toward the front of the house as if he hadn't just devoured the adoration of one pony while I devoured another.

I turned, my heavy hooves thumping echoes from the floorboards. Through the house, I wound my way to where I hoped the front door was and took a deep gasp of fresh, cool air once free of the musk-filled home.

"Your first meal, little brother." His voice causing me to turn toward him, Stereo was prancing around, his tail flicking side to side—he looked like he was dancing. He probably was. "How did it feel? You granted those two their deepest desire tonight. He now has permission to touch his wife, and she knows only that somepony huge owns her, and gave her permission to lay with her husband."

In the cool, night air, I shuddered at the power we had held over the ponies, and at how much they seemed to love us holding it.

"Come, little fish, let's return home and relax. You have some growing to do." Stereo's words sounded great, better than anything else I could imagine. I followed him back to the bathhouse, and back to a bed.

Change

I wish I could remember ever having slept so well. My night was filled with dreams of swimming, sex, and sirens. In the dream my body was long and sleek, built for the water.

Under the calm surface of the lake I flew, I twisted and sped through the water. My brothers were with me, and Feather too. We leapt and cavorted; we played like young colts in a meadow, and when we jumped from the water we arced high into the air before crashing back into the water.

It was a wonderful night, but light started to intrude. I reached for my usual blanket that was always on my bed in Sweet Apple Acres, and merely finding it missing was enough to stir me further awake.

Cracking an eye open against what I knew would be bright morning light, I caught a glimpse of a light gold coat, harlequin eyes, and the most amazing orange bangs falling over a perfect face. A smile pulled at my lips, and the thought of him sitting there waiting for me to wake made me feel special.

"There's my expert angler. Caught two on your first night, that's some kind of record." Feather flipped his head to one side, and his trademark bangs revealed one eye, while hiding the one I had been looking at. "They're both doing well; extra well from what I saw of them just before dawn." Feather's visible eye winked. "I think they might be expecting a foal, at least they tasted of that. I want to know exactly what you and Stereo got up to with them, but after my little surprise."

And with that, Feather Bangs slipped to the side in a way that yanked him out from under my gaze. A pony was in a bed behind where he had been sitting. The stallion looked back at me and blinked. His eyes were a deep blue, and his lashes were thick, almost like a mare's.

The hair of his mane was soft and pink, and it cascaded back from a very masculine face. His jaw was chiseled and defined, and despite his pink, flowing mane and eyelashes, nopony would ever mistake him for anything but a stallion. An amazingly pretty stallion.

Strong, sleek shoulders shifted, and as I moved, he sat up. We smiled at each other, and I couldn't help but trace the beautiful, pristine white fur down to his withers, and the glorious wings that were just below them. A pegasus, then. The stallion was a pegasus.

As my eyes traced down, I saw nothing but perfection, and found a note of both desire and envy grow in me.

Feather leaned in beside me, his mouth nuzzling against my ear. "It's just an illusion for now, little angler. Do you like my plan?"

My heart skipped a beat. I stared at what I now realized was a reflection. "Th-That's me?" I immediately looked down, and slim, white forelegs led from a slightly protruding chest. The world seemed a dream again, and I looked back at myself to see a pair of tightly folded white wings on my back.

"You approve?" Not far away—although far enough to not get hit when I whipped my head around to look at my new body—Feather Bangs had a chuckle in his voice. "Use the mirror. Look at what you will soon be."

I dropped off the bed. I could feel my heavy hooves connect with the floor, but the pony in the mirror dropped lightly to his hooves. As I took a big step, he practically danced. "It's amazing."

"If you keep feeding, I can hasten things. Your own magic will grow, and you will grow into a siren, but while looking like a pony, this will be you." Feather Bangs gestured at the mirror.

I gulped. It was the deal we had made, but not. I watched as the white fur of the shape melted from me. The pink mane and tail, such a soft accent to the white fur, fade to yellow/orange. The wings left, and heartache sprang up within.

Feeding. I needed to feed again, to grow strong, to let Feather Bangs make my dream a reality. The memories of my previous night rushed at me. What I had done to the mare, how I had acted, practically forced myself on her.

Feather opened the simple, sliding door, and pointed at a similar such door across the hall from the room I was in. "A McIntosh Apple is meant to be green, but not that green. Across the hall, little angler."

I didn't manage to get the other sliding door open in time. I burst through the entry to the privy, leaned over the bowl and retched.

Memories of feeding on ponies—eating something fundamental to them, something I had inspired—rushed to the fore. Each memory of each thrust into the mare made my body jerk. I heaved. My stomach spasmed.

But nothing came out.

Slumping to the floor in front of the bowl, I stared at the complete lack of any mess. I wanted to throw up, my mind needed to, but there was nothing to come up.

"A crisis of conscience is not needed, my little angler." Feather Bangs was behind me. His voice held no hint of mockery or derision—if it had I would have likely run away. "Do you think I would let you go fishing, feed, and not check that you released your food safely? Had it not occurred to you that Stereo Mix was there to keep you from harming those ponies?

"You took my bargain willingly. If you had asked what the full cost was, I would have told you." I felt Feather's soft hooves dance on my back before he lay down upon my spine. His mouth was right by my ear. All he had to do was whisper, and I would hear him. "I assure you, little angler, that I will not let you harm a pony. Those ponies adored you for one night. You gave them an illusion, a construct that will last them a lifetime. But fear not that there was lasting harm, if you went back there now they would both beg you to repeat the performance."

I stared at the water in the bowl. Memories returned again, but this time it was the mare's squeals of pleasure, the smell of the stallion's seed spilled on the floor, and the look in each pony's eyes—begging me to never stop—that came. I slumped against the commode. "What'll happen to them?"

"Given how I left them, one will end up pregnant and the other will be the first unicorn to walk on sunshine. But there is an important thing, my little angler, you must not feed from them again for at least a month. Other sirens might not care for ponies, but I think you know what I am going to tell you." He sounded so proud, so excited. I had to reply with what he wanted to hear.

"You love them." As I said the words, Feather Bangs nuzzled at my ear, gave it a little nip, and then sprawled on my back lavishly—I was, apparently, little more than a sofa.

"Of course I love them. Ponies are my life. Without ponies I wouldn't exist. My four favorite sirens in all of Equus used to be ponies." Feather turned a little more, and was now laying on his back, on mine. "You said you know the story of the three sisters: Adagio Dazzle, Aria Blaze, and Sonata Dusk. They liked ponies too, but they didn't love them."

"Ah know about them. Star Swirl The Bearded banished them. They destroyed towns." I turned my head to look back at Feather Bangs, and sighed at how comfortable he looked. He was kicking his hooves in the air cutely and all.

"They destroyed ponies. Their line of sirens fed on anger. They would sweep into a town, use their magic in subtle ways, and stir everypony into a fight. I hope wherever the old unicorn sent them, they starved. Surely you see how what we do is different?" He tilted his head just so, turned it to the same direction I was turned, and his lips brushed my cheek.

"When they'd destroy a town with feudin', they'd move on to the next town." I looked into the single eye Feather Bangs presented to me. "They—we—feed on strong emotions."

"Only the strongest." Feather just nodded a little.

I stared past Feather Bangs for the first time in my life. I saw a truth that I hadn't moments ago. "They worked ponies into a frenzy they would never feel themselves."

"Now you have it." Feather clopped his hooves together in applause. "And what do we do?"

"We put ourselves in the position a pony most wants to adore. We feed on what is already there." My eyes narrowed to points; I could see every detail on the wall behind me. "We use words and actions to be what they want. The sirens—the other sirens—made ponies feel things they wouldn't normally."

Feather Bangs nodded. "We give them exactly what they want. Try to tell me of a more fair way to pay for a little emotional energy, than making a pony's dreams come true?"

I heard a throat clear behind me, and I knew it wasn't Feather Bangs. "Oh you did not break the door down on my commode!" Bath Salts didn't sound happy. "I don't care which one of you did this, you are going to—"

"Ah did it, Miss Salts." I stood up, backed up, and turned to face pure fury. "Ah'll fix it."

"You bet you will!" Stomping her forehooves, Bath Salts glared up at me—and I realized, the pony on my back. "The commotion in town: that was all your doing, Feather?"

"Well of course, Miss Salts, we were just showing our new brother around town." Still on my back, still lounging, and still likely in the most adorably sexy pose any creature had ever partaken. "He really liked it, and I think they liked him, too." I blushed at the implications his tone all-but spelled out.

Bath Salts looked up at me, and her glare turned more inquisitive. Her hoof lifted from the ground, and she touched my cheek. She rubbed just once, then worked her hoof along the side of my face and to my jawline. It caught on something there.

"Feather, your new brother has started his molt. He must have fed well, I take it?" As Bath spoke, Feather practically leaped off my back and landed beside her.

Reaching one hoof up, Feather Bangs leaned in close. "Tilt your head to the side, little angler." I did so, more curious than worried. His hoof stroked again, and again I felt something catch on his soft frog. "Nopony would notice it unless they touched you, but I think Bath is right. Your fins are growing in."

It was happening. It was really happening. I wasn't a pony anymore. I took a deep breath, closed my eyes, and snapped them back open when soft lips pressed to my own. Feather Bangs' eyes fluttered closed just before me, my legs wobbled, and just as I started to lean into the kiss, he was gone again.

"My little fish is growing up! Soon you will have your fins, and a pretty tail, and the whole of Equestria will be your lake!" Feather Bangs turned, pulled me with him. "We're all just fish, McIntosh, and we may feed on littler fish, but we always let them go."

I followed as he led, and after he tugged me all the way to the edge of the water he spun around to face me. My heart beat fast, and I realized what he was going to do before he did it. Feather Bangs stepped backwards off the wooden platform, and using the simple expedient of gravity, and his body as a lever, pulled me into the lake with him.

The cool water felt amazing. Feather kept hold of my forelegs and stared into my eyes as we sank. I had no fear, not with him there. Part of me wanted Feather to lean forward and breathe for me the way Glamour Trot had done.

Feather, now in his full, siren shape, reached one foreleg out and tickled under my chin. I coughed, spluttered, inhaled water, and breathed it back out again. I stared at Feather Bangs, and I couldn't help but feel excited at his happy expression.

I didn't have the tail for it, and my fins were barely noticeable, but I could breathe water as freely as air. We swam and swam, and I couldn't remember a time I felt as good as the weightless feeling the water gave me. It wasn't exactly like my dream (I wasn't a pure siren), but it was as close as I could get.

But all things must end, and when Feather gestured to the surface, I kicked my legs, I shook my body, and with Feather Bangs pushing me I reached the surface. Consciously aware that my lungs were full of water, I turned my head away and snorted.

"Little fish, there are so many more graceful ways to do that. But don't worry, it is only a temporary measure. Once your gills grow in properly, you will not have to inhale the water to breathe it." Feather showed off by tilting his head back and, like a fountain, spitting a little plume of water into the air.

Sneezing a few times, and coughing once, I turned back to watch Feather slip from the water and gracefully turn back into a pony. "Is that why—why Glamour could breathe for me? He has gills?"

"That's right. He was my first little fish, and he is almost all grown up." Feather Bangs actually strutted, and looked amazing doing it. "Another hundred to two hundred years, and he could be off on his own."

Feather's sigh of wistfulness was just about the most adorable thing I had ever heard. I pulled myself out of the water and shook what excess I could free.

Bath Salts stomped out onto the wooden platform and glared right at me. "There you are. Done with your bath?"

"Uh…" I looked from Bath Salts to where Feather Bangs should have been, but he was somehow gone—there was no help. "Eeyup."

"Good! First you fix my door, and then you are going to learn how to wash yourself properly." The way Bath Salts explained it, I was likely not going to enjoy either activity. "Are you good with your hooves?"

Already walking away with the knowledge that she would be followed, or so it seemed, I had no choice than to walk after Bath Salts. "Eeyup!"

Repairing a door was just about the simplest thing. On the farm, I had built whole barns, but Miss Salts' doors were a little different. For a start, they were designed to slide, not swing. But the oddest thing of how she made the doors (and the walls too) was the paper.

By the time I was done building the frame of the door, Bath Salts brought out the patterned paper. I watched as she lay it down flat on the door, then carefully sandwiched it with little inserts. "You see how I'm doing this?"

I nodded, and moved around, so I could actually help. When Bath held out the paper for the next section, I carefully set the wooden inserts in and watched another set of panels form. By the time we were done I felt like I could make a whole house of the stuff.

"You are good with your hooves." Despite being a fully grown stallion, and despite knowing I was at least moderately handy with manual work, hearing the mare praise me felt good. "Go inside, I'll hang the door back up. Do you remember the room where I washed you down the first night?"

My old favorite seemed appropriate. "Eeyup."

"Wonderful. Wait in there for me." Bath Salts lifted the door high with one hoof, and carried it easily towards the bathhouse.

Walking through the building on my own felt strange. Every time I had been in the bathhouse, I had been escorted. I found the room Bath had used for me before, and slipped inside. Figuring what would be going on, I climbed up on the bench to wait.

I had almost drifted off to sleep when Bath Salts came in. The door slid closed behind her. "Off there. You can't learn what to do if I do it on you." Her voice had a laugh behind it.

Slipping off the bench, I moved to the side awkwardly. "Then how do Ah learn?"

Bath Salts rolled her eyes and walked right up beside me. Her femininity was powerful. Having Bath Salts close to my side made me excited, but just when I thought I could try to make a move (without using any power, and without feeding, of course), she jumped up on the bench herself. "You learn by doing. My mane and tail are precious to me, McIntosh, please don't mess up."

My eyes widened as Bath presented me with the cascade of hair that was her mane. "W-W-What?"

"You start with water. Clean, warm water. Rinse my mane out." I looked around, only to see a large tub of slightly steaming water to one side, and what looked like a wooden ladle in it.

Telling myself it was just like building a door I had no idea how to build, I could learn what she had to teach me. "O-Okay."

Bath took a deep breath that I could see in the rise and fall of her side. "Carefully support my mane with one hoof, and use the ladle to wet it. Start at the base, ensure every part is well soaked."

I did as instructed—this was a mare's mane, I didn't dare mess up—and started using the little ladle to wet Bath Salts' mane. I didn't recognize the happy little sounds the mare made until I judged myself done—and she stopped making them. "Y-You like this?"

"A strong and sure stallion washing my mane like I was a princess? What mare wouldn't. Don't be fooled, McIntosh, you could earn the devotion of a mare merely with an hour of pampering. Your brothers will teach you how to get her to that point, of course, but I can tell you that if I weren't being careful not to, I would be adoring you for this." Despite her words, I could sense Bath Salts' aura—full as I was, I couldn't have eaten from her even if I dared to disobey Feather Bangs.

"Yaint doin' so good at that." My voice had gained more countryisms, and I realized it was the focus I put into my task.

I heard Bath clear her throat, then give a chuckle. "And while I appreciate you letting me know to be careful, I am much happier to know you are such a gentlefish that you wouldn't actually nibble."

"Feather Bangs was clear. An' Ah'm kinda full." My admission got a giggle from Bath.

Rinse and wash and rinse again. It was slow work, but that suited me. It almost reminded me of plowing a field. I finished getting all the shampoo from Bath's mane while working in silence. The sounds of the bathhouse around us intruded, but didn't at the same time.

"Are you done with the shampoo?" Bath turned her head slightly to the side, and I held up part of her mane to show her.

"Eeyup. Ah rinsed it all out." I was relieved when she gave a little nod.

"The conditioner is next. Keep going." She turned back to face the wall. "What I am trying to teach you, is this process is slow and careful, and each step needs to be followed. Feather has asked me to teach you to take care of yourself, and I will do exactly that. Every morning while you are here, you will wash my mane, and I will wash yours."

Which, I quickly realized, would take up the better part of the morning every day. I hadn't even realized my hooves started to move faster when Bath Salts made a clicking sound with her tongue. "McIntosh, rinse my mane out and start again."

I froze. "Start a-again? From the 'start,' start?"

"Yes. Rinse my mane and start with the shampoo again." Bath Salts let out a soft sigh. "And don't try to rush this process, McIntosh, or we will be here all day."

I looked down at Bath Salts' mane, took a deep breath, and let it out slowly. "Sorry." I used the ladle to rinse her mane out again, washing it free of the conditioner.

Starting again, I kept to the slow pace I had used the first time. I rinsed her mane out, applied the shampoo and massaged it through, and then rinsed again. Reaching for the conditioner, I poured a little down the length of her mane, and started working it through the soft hair.

The rhythm of the work was easy to fall into, just like plowing. I barely noticed when Bath Salts spoke again, and I think she may have even had to repeat herself. "McIntosh, you can rinse that again now."

I nodded, not even sure if she could see me do so, and turned my attention to rinsing the oils from her mane. The hair took on a sheen that was undeniably a result of my work, and I found myself smiling as I finished rinsing.

Bath sat up on the bench and tilted her head to swing her mane to one side. "This is good work for a first try, McIntosh." She plucked a towel from a nearby pile and with a quick action swung it around her mane, lifting the hair and protecting it as she wrapped it into a coil atop her head. "Now it's your turn. Up you get."

I climbed up after Bath Salts climbed down. I was awkward as I moved on the hefty bench, but I managed to shift to the same position Bath had been when I had washed her mane.

An odd tingling ran through my head and neck when Bath started stroking and checking over my mane. She examined the hair, and even gently tugged on it. I wasn't sure why, but her efforts had my eyes threatening to close—I was relaxed completely.

"You have never cared for your mane in your life, have you?" Her question stirred my slowing thoughts, and my splayed ears twitched a little. Before I could get a word out, Bath began ladling water into my mane. "Didn't think so. Split ends. Cracked. This mane is a tragedy."

Her hooves had to be magical. Each time Bath Salts spoke I tried to open my mouth to reply, but by the time I managed to pool enough willpower, I couldn't remember what to say. What I did notice, however, was that she was working much faster than I was. Of course, she had done this a few more times than I had.

I thought she was done when she rinsed the oils from my mane, but she shifted her attention to my tail. There was going to be a moment of clarity, and I turned my head enough to see Bath Salts. She had a happy smile on her face that belied her opinion of my mane. "How bad is it?"

"Your tail? Well, I hope we don't have to amputate." Bath tilted her head to look at me, and I saw the mirth in her features. "I'm kidding, McIntosh. It will take months of work to repair this damage, but it can be repaired."

"M-Months?" I lifted my head from the bed. "But, I mean, Feather is going to—"

"He is turning you into a siren, McIntosh, I know that. But even a siren should take care of themselves. Now lay back down, this shouldn't take as long as your mane." Reaching a hoof to my shoulder, Bath Salts pushed me back down with the ease of a mare who knows somepony bigger than her will let her push them—and I did.

If the gentle tugging and working of my mane was distracting, having a mare as good-looking as Bath Salts doing the same to my tail was a lot more intense. The tugging against my dock reminded me of my new brothers, and as I closed my eyes I slipped into the realm of fantasy.

We were back in the couple's house, and I was riding not the mare, but Smooth Vibes. As I grunted, driving myself into his inexplicably perfect ass, I turned my head to see Stereo Mix biting at my dock.

The mare from the house was in front of Smooth, her rear in the air, her anus the target of Smooth's attention. Each of my thrusts pushed him to shove his tongue in a little deeper, penetrating her rear over and over.

"Little fish." Feather Bangs was there too, and he was standing behind me. "McIntosh, you need to wake up."

As was common, I had integrated what I could feel in reality with the dream. Feather Bangs was standing behind me, nuzzling at my throat, while I could feel Bath Salts rinsing my tail. I would have jerked upright, but Feather kept me pinned with the expedient of leaning on me.

"Oh, is this because of me?" Feather's hoof trailed along my side, reaching down until he got to my belly and—and my rock-hard shaft.

"I prefer to think it's for me. A mare likes to be appreciated." Bath Salts gave my flank a few gentle pats. "There is a reason, McIntosh, that I didn't have you do my tail." She turned and made it all the way to the sliding door before she gave one last word in parting: "...yet."

Feather's hoof closed on my shaft, and I felt the confusion from Bath's words melt into the certainty of Feather Bangs' touch. "Learn everything you can from her, McIntosh. Bath Salts is a wonderful mare, and she can teach you so many things your brothers and I could barely scratch the surface of."

"She's a mare." I blurted the words out, unable to get past them. "And—And you said not ta do anythin' to her."

"The pony you ate last night was a mare, too. You need to learn to please both sexes, McIntosh, although from what Stereo said you had things under control. You can have all the fun you want here, little fish, but no eating." Feather ran his hoof slowly along my shaft, and trembled under his touch. "Which is why I am here. We need to work on your body."

I tried to say something, but every time I opened my mouth, Feather Bangs squeezed my shaft just a little—it stole my breath and the thought that tried to escape my mouth. He nuzzled my chin, and I felt a rush of magic, but it didn't just come from Feather.

Power rolled out of my body, swirled around me, and was shaped by Feather Bangs. He climbed up on the bench and stood over me, stared down at me.

"Your body wants to change into a siren, and it will do that just fine on its own. I need to adjust its plans to include a new shape for your pony-self." Feather's hooves melted against my flesh, and even though I could feel that it was just a massage, there was a sense that he was pushing something into me, imposing himself on my very shape.

I moaned. There was nothing sexual about what he was doing to me, but that I would be worth Feather's time and effort.

As his hooves moved, I felt the magic inside me move, too. He wasn't working his own power, merely using that as a catalyst to move the energy within me. I wanted to tell him I had worked out what he was doing but, each time I opened my mouth, more moans came free.

I didn't pass out, and I didn't lose myself in the sensations—I couldn't. Each stroke of Feather Bangs' hooves moved part of me: part of the magic in me, and part of my physical body. Each stroke reworked a muscle, sinew, or bone.

Howls of bliss poured from me, but even as I realized he was done, I could have described everything he did. The surety of his touch reminded me of a book Twilight had given me to read, of a sculptor working clay.

"I think that was better for you than it was for me." Feather Bangs leaned down atop me and nibbled my left ear. I had not a scrap of energy left to so much as twitch it. "We will hunt again tonight, little fish. I admit to a level of curiosity as to who you will find next."

And with that, Feather Bangs slid off my body and the bench, and walked out. I turned my head to follow him, and realized how hungry he looked. It frightened and aroused me at the same time, as well as another excitement that grew: I was hungry again, too.

Feast

I woke up with a start. My belly grumbled at me, reminding me that Feather Bangs had worked magic that had used up my reserves. Shifting on the bench where my tail and mane had been washed (and where I had washed Bath's mane), I slid to the side and dropped to my hooves.

Something was different. My brain processed what I could see, what I could feel, and what I could smell. It was definitely a sight thing. I looked at the bench, and realized it came further up my body than when I had climbed on it.

A glance under the bench showed me it had no adjustment, and was bolted to the wooden floor. I straightened up and looked at it again. When I had climbed up on the bench, it was below my belly, but now I would have to jump a little—as Bath Salts had—to get on it.

The accuracy of my memory when it came to Feather Bangs touching me was unusually sharp. I remembered everywhere he stroked and worked, and I realized what he had done: I was half a hoof-width shorter, and when I checked with my hooves, a fraction thinner.

My breathing sped up, I reached up to my face, but my head hadn't changed—he hadn't massaged my face, after all.

I moved quickly to the door. As I walked, I felt my tail brush the backs of my legs, and my mane drape over one shoulder. Excitement replaced the shock of my body being different, and I almost damaged another of Miss Salts' doors getting out of the room.

"There you are, brother. Come on, it's almost time to feed." Glamour Trot, his face in a bright smile, pointed a hoof along the hallway toward the front of the bathhouse. "Tonight is a special night. Feather wants us all plump and fat little fishes, so we are hunting prey each, and then hunting again."

The look in Glamour's eyes told me that a double hunt was not a small event. He practically glowed with excitement. "I heard you have some fins growing in?" His hoof moved as quickly as his mouth, not giving me a chance to reply or react before he stroked my jaw. "Your fins are adorable."

I was aware of how much shorter I was, again: Glamour Trot should have been three hooves shorter than me, but now that gap had been reduced to two. My memory brought back how big he was in the water, and I realized appearances were always going to be deceiving.

"D-Do I have to find another pony to—" I bit down on my words, cutting them off short. My worry was doused by a kiss on the cheek from Glamour Trot.

"No, little fish, I have us a treat. Two couples in town who are already playing fun little games, and tonight they will play games with us. You only get the stallions,"—Glamour's voice gained an edge of harshness, betraying him for the predator he was—"their mares are mine."

"You prefer mares?" My question seemed to break Glamour Trot's mood into a lighter one; he laughed. "What?"

Glamour's eyes danced. "I have no preference, mostly, but taking a mare in front of their stallion fires my blood in a way that nothing else can. Don't get me wrong, little fish, I adore playing with you and our brothers, but when a stallion watches me claim his mare is what drives me."

"S-So what I did last night… where the stallion begged me to claim his wife…" I barely got the words out before Glamour licked my cheek.

"Those ponies." Glamour shuddered and licked me again. "When we return here next, we will have a lot of fun with those ponies, together. For now, tell me what you did."

I recounted events as we walked. I explained how Stereo Mix handled the stallion, while I took his mare. It helped me put things in order. I recalled the joy on the mare's face when she realized my plan, and the desire on the stallion's. They really had wanted what we had done with every fiber of their beings.

When I got to the part of finishing on the mare, instead of in her, Glamour was pressed to my side, walking so closely that I could feel his warmth from shoulder to hip. "You're a natural, you know that?" Glamour pressed his cheek to mine, and I could feel the fins hidden in my fur tug against him. "For one: no chance of pregnancy. And secondly: that stallion would have been rutting his wife all night smelling another stallion."

The scent of arousal wafted to me, and I realized that my story had Glamour Trot more than a little horny. Pride and curiosity welled up. "These ponies; you have been with them before?"

"Yes and no. I know only one of them. He was a fun little meal all on his own, but when I saw him last night, he invited me to come play with his wife and friends. He is a dainty flower, McIntosh. I can tell you that he is a very upstanding pony, and you will have to work a lot of tricks to bend him to your desires, but he will enjoy every moment of it. He loves being degraded, being reduced to much less than he is." The description Glamour Trot gave surprised me.

"S-so? What should I do?" I was confused and a little unsure.

Glamour Trot laughed. "Little fish, you have none of the magic we do yet, so use what you have. How would you break a stallion down to the status of a pet?"

I racked my brain. "M-make him feel like a pet by treating him like one. I-Ignore anything he says as if they were animal sounds. Dress him with animal equipment." Once I started down the path of those thoughts, I didn't stop. I imagined all the ways to treat a pony as just another animal. Animals were cared for, of course, but they weren't ponies. "Ah think Ah can handle it."

Part of me screamed that this was a pony I planned to do these things to, that they weren't right. But there was a simple way I could make them right: talking to the pony first. What if I could go one step further. "Stereo Mix said he could tell what a pony felt, what they wanted. Could I do that?"

"Once you have your gem, and once you learn how to use it. A little fish should learn that trick very early on." Glamour Trot led the way toward town.

I couldn't see the other sirens around, and kept my silence while I thought on everything Glamour had said, as well as what I had planned. In the fading afternoon light the town seemed to be even more busy than the previous night. Ponies walked to and fro, and though there were a few glances our way, none were anything more than casual interest in strangers.

Spotting what I was after, I suddenly realized I had no bits for what I needed. "Uh, Glamour? Can I borrow some bits?"

"A little fish in need of some coral?" The way Glamour said it, the words didn't sound anywhere nearly as silly as they should. "Of course. Of course." His horn flared, and a small bag appeared, hovering in his telekinetic field.

I reached up and took the little bag, and turned to walk into the single pet store of the town. The smell of animals hit me like an old friend. Their were some puppies in a pen near the front door, birds in bright cages, and even more exotic things like tortoises and a big lizard.

Every farmers' enemy was sitting in one particular cage. The only real argument I had ever had with Fluttershy, and what had resulted in us drifting apart, was a discussion about rabbits. Unlike vampire fruit bats (what my sister had a wasp in her tail about), rabbits wouldn't be reasoned with. If you made sure to give them something to eat, next year there would just be a lot more rabbits.

"Ahem." I cleared my throat; the pony behind the counter lifted his head up and smiled. "Ah'm after some things for muh dog."

"Certainly, sir. Big dog, little dog, something in-between? I've got what you need!" The shopkeep had that glued-on smile a lot of ponies got when they worked selling things to get by a little longer than they intended to.

I nodded to him. "Big dog. Collar, leash, and a muzzle." The last item drew a raised eyebrow. Muzzling a dog wasn't a common thing in Equestria, most ponies raised their pets well enough that they didn't bite. "I don't know why we keep him. Young timber wolf. Such a hoofful."

Both the shopkeeper's eyebrows were raised now. "Quite the pet, indeed. You'll need a strong collar and leash for them, and a big muzzle." He accepted my nods as due course. "I've got just the thing." The stallion disappeared into the back room of the shop, and just as I was wondering if I should call out for him, he poked his head back out.

The hefty collar and thick leash were exactly what I would use to control a timber wolf (if I were stupid enough to keep one as a pet), and the muzzle had multiple buckle points, and even had straps that fastened it to the collar. My lips spread, and I pictured a pony under my control, and happy to be there.

Reining in my daydream, lest the natural result of such show up, I lifted my bag of bits and looked inside.

On the farm, and dealing with sales of large amounts of goods, I was used to seeing one, two, and five-bit coins. Ten-bit coins were rare, but two of them would get you a small barrel of apples. One-hundred-bit coins, like what most of those in the bag were, just didn't make sense. I had to fish around the big ones, finding a few tens. "How much?"

"Can't say as it's common gear, but it's been weighing down the shelf back there too long. Ten bits." I had a feeling it wasn't worth that, but then I wasn't really going to be getting anything like it at this hour. He smiled when I nodded to him.

Reaching into the bag, I grabbed up a ten bit coin and passed it over. Not waiting for any further conversation, I grabbed up the items and turned. My hooves should have made a heavy clomping sound as I beat my retreat, but even that seemed lessened. I wasn't just shorter, I was lighter, too.

"Did you get what you…?" Glamour's question trailed off as he saw what I carried. "Little fish, you have just the thing to make this night perfect. But tell me, did you spend all the money?"

I laughed and tossed the bag of coins back. Glamour's magic grabbed the bag mid-air, and it vanished with a pop. "If he wants to be treated like an animal, Ah'll do just that."

Glamour Trot, as per his namesake, made his way along another street without a word. There was something about the way he moved—not the prancing trot—that brought up my hunger. I felt like the timber wolf I had lied about to get the muzzle.

When Glamour reached a particular house, he turned onto the lavish garden path. Small, perfectly trimmed hedges flanked us as we walked to the front door, and I couldn't help but notice the stone statues and bird bath scattered around. Glamour Trot knocked lightly on the door.

A young stallion—a pegasus with an orange coat and sea-green mane—opened the door. "You're Cold's friend?" When Glamour nodded to the stallion, he turned his attention on me. "And this must be your plus-one?"

Glamour Trot stepped forward, predatory, encroaching not only on the open door, but also the stallion's personal space. "Tonight you will call him master." And with that, Glamour pushed past the stallion as if he weren't there.

The unnamed pony looked at me, and I saw him breathing sharply, his throat bobbing up and down. His ears were tucked back, and he looked at me with panic. "W-W-What?"

I might be smaller than I was, but I still stood taller than most stallions; I used my size. Stepping up to the pegasus, I shoved against him so that my mouth was at his ear. Normally, a pony would back off, or run screaming. "Tell me you don't want this, right now, and I walk away." My voice came out a lot steadier than I thought it ever could in this situation.

Something inside me eased at giving him this choice, in simply asking. The predator that had taken the mare the previous night, and used her for pleasure, paced behind the gate I had built for him—for me.

"I want this. You're so…" He leaned against my chest and inhaled. I had no idea what he was smelling, but he shivered and started nuzzling my fur.

"Then show me where Cold is, I believe I have some work ahead of me. You will be obedient." I didn't make the words a question and I saw a happy shudder run down the stallion's back, then up again—it even shook at his wings.

"Y-Yes, Master." His tail wagged, and the stallion stepped back and looked up at me adoringly.

The beast inside me glided to the fore. I was hungry, and this stallion was only the start of tonight's feast. I took a bite, just one, and felt ten times bigger. "Show me to him. If he tries to run, you are not to intercede until I say so." And like that the unnamed stallion became my hound.

Inside, the house was even more opulent than the exterior suggested—and it had suggested a lot. Fancy rooms I had no name for, little couches I knew Miss Rarity would have loved, and even the most fancy of rugs meant nothing.

"He's in here, Master!"

My head, distracted looking at the shiny things I passed, snapped toward my pet's call. He was standing in a doorway, one forehoof raised and pointing. I made my way toward the door, and lifted a hoof to ruffle the stallion's mane—like a dog's—as I entered. "Good boy."

Inside, Glamour Trot way stretched out on a couch, and two mares were cuddled up with him, one whispering into his ear. Across the room "Cold" stood, glaring at Glamour with every hint of anger in his eyes. He was a well-to-do earth pony, and had the air of disdain that I knew meant he had a lot of bits.

I licked my lips. "Well, well. What breed do we have here?" I ignored Glamour Trot, but was sure I felt his eyes tracing my every move. "Not a bad pup. I wonder what he's like when given proper training?"

It was a role—a play. It all came into focus for me. We were actors in the lives of these ponies. We would put on a performance, we would invite them to join in, and we would craft a single night of entertainment for them.

All that remained, then, was to learn my role. For just a moment Cold's eyes darted to me from where his wife was nuzzling at Glamour's jawline; I saw hunger, desire, but both were quickly covered by a veneer of disdain.

I felt a sense of longing from him. Focusing for a moment, I covered my actions by glancing over every inch of him: he was powerfully built despite what had obviously been a rich upbringing. The house we were in was like what some of Twilight's books would have called "old bits," generation after generation of rich ponies.

As I walked closer to him, I employed every sense I had. He smelled of vanilla—a strong scent to cover his stallion-scent—and I watched him unconsciously lick his lips (a sign he had smelled my own musk. But it was that new sensation that I relied on the most. Cold's aura was swirling, there was a little adoration there, but there was a lot of desire wrapped around it. To gain my food, I would need to turn that desire into adoration.

"Not a bad looking specimen." I turned to the Dog-Stallion who had led me in. He looked inordinately happy still. I rubbed on of his ears. "Maybe I could fit him up in a harness, or maybe use my magic to rob him of every unique thought in his head." As I spoke, I studied Cold's eyes, searching them for a spark of interest.

"I—I don't know who let you two in. This is preposterous!" Cold looked around with an air of superiority. "I'm calling the Royal Guard!" And with his performance, he turned and started stomping for the front door.

One. Two. Three. Four. Five. I counted slowly, and when I was done, I lifted my hoof from Dog-Stallion's withers. "Fetch."

Pegasi were built for speed. Dog-Stallion used his wings and hooves to shoot after Cold as fast as he could. I trotted after the pair, and pulled the first item of the kit I had picked up with Glamour's bits.

"What's the meaning of this, Southers? Get off me!" Cold was struggling on the floor, wrestling with Dog-Stallion (apparently named Southers, although that was not part of the script I was working on). From the look of them, Cold wasn't fighting with everything he had, and slowed further when I entered the room. "What are you doing here? What have you done to my friend?"

I held up the collar. "A wild beast is a waste. It serves nopony but itself."

Hunger filled Cold's eyes. He stopped struggling, and just stared at the heavy collar. Again he licked his lips, and I realized I had found a tell that didn't need me using siren tricks.

I walked right up to the pair, and leaned down to Cold. "This is your moment. Tell me you don't want any of this, and I leave you be." I watched his eyes narrow to pinpricks. "Just shake your head if you want me to go. I'm sure your friend would love to wear this co—"

He nodded his head vigorously, licked his lips again, and looked up at me. "I-I'm okay with it. Glamour said he would bring a friend and I—I really want this."

I could see that it had cost him his dignity to admit that, and I knew what the play would need. "You told me what you want, what you need. Good boy." I opened the collar and worked the heavy material around Cold's neck.

"He's struggling, Master!"

Cold might have been an earth pony, but my strength was to most earth ponies (except my sister and probably Pinkie Pie) what an earth pony was to a unicorn. I pressed a hoof to Cold's withers, and leaned forward.

My weight bore down on Cold, and I felt him struggle and lose the fight. He sank down to his belly on the floor, and I kept him pinned until he stopped struggling. "You're a bit frisky. Typical wild dog, just wait until you have the leash on, I bet you'll be calm as a puppy." I felt Cold shudder underneath my hoof.

I kept my weight on him with the pinning hoof, and used my other forehoof to work the collar around his neck. Fastening it was a little more tricky, and I had to use my mouth to do it. "Hold on. This won't take long and I'll have you eating out of my hoof."

Gripping the collar with the hoof that had kept him pinned down, I lifted and jerked forward. Cold tried to pull back, but strong as he was, he couldn't match my might, or the toughness of the collar. I dragged him to the room adjoining the one where Glamour was, by the sounds that met my ears, enjoying himself with one of the two stallions' mares.

I flung Cold across the smooth floor, watched him struggle to regain his footing. "Pup?" Dog-Stallion was immediately at my side. "Go next door and ask Glamour if you can help him with anything. Make sure to take note who he is rutting, and tell us when you return."

Dog-Stallion's eyes widened, and I think he noticed the sounds coming from the next room for the first time. He nodded to me. "Yes, Master!"

I rounded on Cold, and could see him looking at the door Dog-Stallion was leaving through. "Heliotrope…"

"Your bitch?" I asked Cold, and he gave me a nod. "Sounds like Glamour is serving her well. I'm sure she'll have a fine litter of his."

"She… She loves me…?"

I froze. The play was breaking with its lead actor uncertain. "You want to go and check?" My voice held none of the command or confidence it did when playing my role. At his nod I turned and walked slowly toward the door.

Upon reaching the door, however, I realized Cold hadn't come with me. "Come." The command was back. The word worked, Cold drew closer. We both looked through the door together. One of the mares had an odd rubber contraption strapped underneath her, and was servicing the other, while Glamour watched with every hint of ecstasy in his features.

I had to cling to the play, or Cold's situation would make continuing untenable. "That your bitch on top?"

"Yes." Cold's voice had lost the fear. He was watching his wife bucking what was likely Dog-Stallion's wife, while Dog-Stallion was licking at Glamour's balls. "I thought she was—"

"Your wife takes care of your needs normally?" At my question, Cold nodded mutely. "What makes you think Glamour wouldn't recognize the dominance in her, and let her be free with it?"

Cold's head and shoulders leaned against my side, and I heard a soft sigh leave his throat. "She's quite a mare." His tone held reverence.

"And you're quite the pup." At my words, Cold's head shot up to look at me. "Are you going to keep fighting me?" I watched the smile on Cold's lips grow until he bared his teeth and started to turn.

I reached out with the heavy leash and latched it to the collar. "No! Bad dog!"

Cold got a full pony-length away before the leash pulled him up short.

My muscles strained against the sharp pull, but I held tight to the leash. "Are you going to learn to behave, or will I have to find a dog to put over you?" I watched Cold's head snap around. "It's the best way to take all the fire out of a dog, get them mounted, whimpering, and they will soon realize it's for their own good to be respectful."

Pulling the leash in, I dragged Cold closer to me; I kept my eyes locked on his all the way. "Stomp your forehoof three times."

Cold stared at me in confusion.

In answer to his unasked question, I produced the muzzle. His eyes widened as I produced it, and he tried to pull away again. I braced a hoof on his back again, and forced his forequarters to the floor. He didn't say a single word to get me to stop, and in no time I pushed the muzzle over his face.

"This was made to keep a timber wolf restrained, I don't think it will be a problem for a pup like you. Like I said, stomp three times if you want out." I watched dawning comprehension fill his eyes. When he nodded to me, I knew he understood what the gesture would mean.

I turned for the door leading to the next room, and pulled on Cold's leash. "Hunt's-mistress! I have another pup for you to train!"

Dragging Cold into the room, I had all eyes turn to me. All except the mare Cold's wife had been mounting: she was flopped on her belly, staring ahead with a happy look on her face. I locked eyes with Cold's wife, and saw a queen there. She was a unicorn built long-legged and haughty, but the way she looked at Cold was so possessive that just my nearness to him seemed to make her associate me to him as well.

"Ah, the stable-hand. Good boy. Bring the new stock over here." She was quick to take the lead, and gestured to the floor in front of her. Her eyes narrowed on Cold. "He give you some trouble? That tack doesn't look like it's made for good dogs."

"A biter, ma'am. And he tried to get away the moment I had him. If you want my recommendation, he should be put under another dog. That'll take the fight right out of him." As I spoke, I watched her eyes dance with delight—she was enjoying this a lot.

I looked at Cold, and was honestly amazed at the change. He was standing proud, and even took a few steps forward.

"Seems a spirited sort. I'd saddle up this bitch here and have her ride him, but I don't know as she has the oats for it." She gestured at Dog-Stallion's wife, who was still sprawled on the floor. "Or am I wrong? Little bitch, are you up to play?" She had leaned down to the fallen mare's ear, and whispered something to her.

Dog-Stallion's wife lifted her head and looked at Cold. Her eyes widened as she looked at him; then they whispered some more. The mare lifted herself slowly to her hooves, while the Hunt's-Mistress unfastened the toy and attached it under the wobbly mare.

"Teach this pup what-for, Trainer, while I test out our new stable-colt." Hunt's-Mistress turned to face me full on, and her eyes looked like she was assessing me to eat.

"Th-Thank you for the instructions on p-proper mounting techniques, H-Hunt's-Mistress." Trainer walked toward Cold, and I watched him stare at his wife as Trainer climbed up on his back.

I saw a glow come from Hunt's-Mistress' horn, and I heard Cold gasp. Hunt's-Mistress chuckled. "One day, Trainer, we'll have you judging your angle right." Her attention rounded to me. "On your back, Stable-Hoof."

There was a brief moment as I tried to get my head around the switch in roles. I glanced at Trainer, and her efforts on Cold, and she had his leash firmly in her grip, and was pulling him back into each of her thrusts. She had shifted roles, so I could too.

"Yes ma'am." I rolled onto my back—as unnatural as it felt—and looked up at Hunt's-Mistress. "His safety is three hoof stomps." I kept my words low, and noticed the slightest of nods from Hunt's-Mistress.

Rather than carry out her plan right away, she stepped over to Trainer, and whispered something to her. Knowing they had shared his safety motion made me relax a little, until Hunt's-Mistress straddled me.

"You've a good hoof with the pups, but you can't just deal with them all day." Hunt's-Mistress adjusted her position, and rubbed her soft belly-fur along my already hardening shaft. She turned her head enough to see that Cold was watching us, and her smile became predatory. "Come on, then, to attention. A Stable-Hoof shouldn't keep the Hunt's-Mistress waiting."

The scene suddenly demanded I be ready and hard, and my body was nothing if not accommodating. As she drew her body forward, I saw a big smile light up her face. She stood up a little, and I realized she was doing so to let her husband see my shaft. The Hunt's-Mistress leaned forward, and then speared backwards.

I grit my teeth to hold back my grunt, but it shoved past them anyway. She hadn't taken it slow, or sensual, but had taken almost all of my shaft on her first thrust. I looked up at her, and saw her face as a mask of concentration.

One of Hunt's-Mistress' back legs lifted, and pressed down on my gaskin. I knew what she was about; she had made it impossible for me to buck upwards against her. Her actions spoke of taking this position several times before, and it was obvious (to me at least) that she wanted me to test her control.

I bucked upward, trying to slam the last of my shaft into Hunt's-Mistress, but my angle (pushing up) was at a great disadvantage to her angle (pushing down, with her weight behind her), and the little I managed to move lifted her whole back-end. I gave a whine, and saw her smile broaden.

"You see, my Stable-Hoof, a Hunt's-Mistress must always be in control." She glared down at me, daring me to try again—so I did. Again she kept my body pinned down. "Keep trying all you want."

The third time I tried, a sharp strike to my flank stole all my focus. I looked down side and saw a crop—held in Hunt's-Mistress' magic grip—hovering beside me.

"A quick learner. I like that." And with that, she began to press down further herself.

As her body closed around more of me, I couldn't hold back my desire, and when I tried to hump upward, I got another sharp sting on my flank. A fire lit inside me, and I started to really struggle. I tried to pull out from under her, and her simple expedient of leverage kept me from getting away each time. For the first time in my life I had been outmatched by a regular pony.

Leaning forward, her muzzle came down and kissed my chest. "Tell me Saddle, and this stops."

I blinked a few times, trying to understand what she meant until it clicked: she had given me a safety. She wanted me to fight, struggle, and be defeated by her. With a little focus, I turned my attention to her aura and saw adoration growing more dominant. Snarling, I tried to grab her and buck upward, but she deflected my grip over and over.

"You see, Sir Trot, even the strongest earth pony stallion is no stronger than a colt, when under my control." Though her words were to Glamour, I couldn't help but imagine myself as a smaller stallion, weak and at the mercy of another.

I doubt she realized how much of an effect those words, or the concept, had on me. She began to slowly rock, picking her own pace, ensuring she was in full control of the situation, and I kept trying to fight, struggle, and prove how much in her power I was.

Her movements were too slow for my lust's liking, but there was another need inside me, and every strike of her crop and shove of her body raised my hunger as much as my need. She loved what I was doing, how I made her feel. I could see her aura plainly: she adored it.

Opening my mouth, I clamped down on part of her aura, bit, and then grunted as her crop struck across my nose.

"I don't know what that magic is, colt, but you will not use it until you have satisfied me, is that clear?" Her words were less of an effect than her crop, and I felt its sting twice more on my nose before I finally realized her command.

My needs grew to consume me. I was a beast writhing in hunger, screaming in pleasure. She kept me trapped and in her control all the time, and I could only watch her aura grow all the more glutted with adoration as she did.

At last, finally, she rocked down hard, her rear planting itself firmly against my belly, and she tilted her head back to moan. It was my own signal.

Both of my hungers needed feeding, and the first involved unloading myself into her. My balls were on fire, and that fire translated to lighting boiling through my body and up into hers. A second moan met the heels of the first, and I watched her practically crowing above me.

But she had become distracted from her control.

I shoved upward, pushing her to the side and onto her back. The savageness she had stirred in me took over, and my hips became a blur. As I rutted, fucked, Hunt's-Mistress, I bit at her aura, savaged it. Each bite pulled another moan from her, another squeal of pleasure.

There was no sense of time. I plowed her like I had the fields back home: relentlessly. I guzzled and swallowed her adoration, catching stray bits of her lust with it. I fed my hungers with her, and when it was all done she looked up at me with a hungry look; I couldn't believe she was ready for more.

"A good Stable-Hoof knows when his job is done. Get off me."

Her words did little to distract me from finishing in her again, but her magic was much more sure of her desires. She lifted me into the air, pulling me free of her body, only for her to roll over and prowl across to her husband.

Hunger still filled me. The work Feather had done earlier in the day had used all my reserves, and I still needed more. I looked around, and spotted Glamour leaning over Dog-Stallion. The submissive male was lapping at Glamour Trot's shaft eagerly, worshiping it while Glamour fed off him. That meal was out of the question.

I swung my head around to see what had become of Cold and Trainer, and I saw Hunt's-Mistress planting her hips into Cold's lower belly, as she had done to me. My eyes narrowed on Trainer, a beast spotting prey, and I stalked forward.

She was staring at her husband, watching him mindlessly lapping at Glamour Trot's genitals, but she spotted me when I was close. She looked at me as if I were a monster, but there was no fear.

"You are nothing but a beast. Well-trained, maybe, but look at you. Turn around and give yourself to me." Trainer's eyes were flashing with confidence.

I was hungry, and I wanted to slake both my hungers upon her again, but her aura wasn't right. She was filled to the brim with lust, and some desire for Cold, Hunt's-Mistress, and more for her husband, but there was no adoration for me.

Trainer had already told me what she wanted, but I started picking up on a further need. I turned on her and nipped at her. In reply, she laughed.

"I was right, just a beast. You want me, don't you?" Her words were laced with renewed desire, and when I snapped out again, she rebuffed me with a hoof strike to my nose. Her eyes flashed and widened, and before I knew what she was doing she had climbed on my back.

"I'll tell you a secret," Trainer whispered, from behind my head somewhere. The blunted shove of something under my tail was the first I could remember of the toy Hunt's-Mistress had fitted Trainer with. "I like a wild ride."

The pressure of her slick toy shoving into me, of the sensation of it spreading wide my sphincter and burrowing deep, drew a whining moan from me. Her hips connected with my rump, and she jerked back. I groaned and squirmed under her, and I felt her aura starting to swell around me.

She built a pace unlike any stallion or mare I had been with before; each thrust into my body was a deliberate, timed drive that seemed to only come when I found myself aching for the return of her toy.

Trainer's adoration spilled over me, and I found myself snapping at it as it rained from her. I was trapped in agony, however, as her stuffing of my rear proved not enough to sate my lust. Even as I snapped up the adoration from the air, I started whining for more attention.

"Is the little puppy ready for his fun? You've given me a wonderful ride…" Her voice trailed off, and then I felt her hoof touch my shaft.

I stopped snapping, arched my back, and surrendered to my lust. She pumped me with long, slow strokes, and she pushed me over the edge. The tightness in my rear only served to enhance the pressure behind my shaft. I unloaded onto the floor, while the mare on my back whispered soft, reassuring words to me.

Collapsing under her, I fell into the mess she had coaxed from my body. I heard only happy laughter as she fell down, pulled free of me, and landed on my belly. Looking up at her, I saw what my other hunger needed and started feasting in earnest.

I wasn't even sure when exhaustion took me, but it was combined with satiation and fulfilled pleasure.

Glamour's words were the last I heard before oblivion fully claimed me: "That's my little brother. I'll take you home."

Encroaching

Learning roles was easy. When I got hungry, we would head into a town and feed. Each time I learned something new and used the skills I had learned. My brothers—Stereo Mix, Glamour Trot, and Smooth Vibes—were always obliging with both advice and affection.

After that little orgy with Glamour and his pony friends we had moved on. Never feed in one place too long, Feather Bangs told me. They were wise words. Feeding off a pony left them drained, but not exactly weakened. Some ponies seemed addicted to the feeding, like Hunt's-Mistress (Gentle Steps) and Trainer (Firm Stride). They followed us for nearly a day until Glamour Trot turned to deal with them.

One town turned into another. From Our Town to Neighagra Falls to a little way-station town with no name near Galloping Gorge. Each stop we made at towns revealed ponies with new desires, new needs that they paid us to fulfill for them. That none of them knew it was a transaction didn't seem to matter anymore.

Each feeding and subsequent work by Feather Bangs changed me a little more. The first few feedings had him focusing on my size and by the time we reached Vanhoover I was barely larger than any of the others. It was amazing.

I couldn't keep track of time. Traveling like this was akin to working on the farm: days came and went, but there was never an overall schedule to things beyond the seasons and the weather. Since we had left Neighagra, however, there had been a distinct lack of any large waterways, but when we reached a hill overlooking Vanhoover I saw more water than I had ever before in my life.

"The North Luna Ocean, according to ponies." Stereo Mix walked up to my side and pressed his flank against mine. He was warm on an otherwise cool morning, but what I loved about the touch was that it reminded me that I wasn't a hulking monster of a stallion. "We call it The Big Warm."

My hooves felt stiff suddenly, and I rolled my eyes. "Warm? This is the coldest part of Equestria."

Stereo laughed at that, something I couldn't find annoying after the inventive ways he had shown me to stay warm. "Ponies think there is an underwater volcano, or magic, but it's really simple. Though the surface of The Big Warm is still most of the time, there is a strong current deep under the surface. It pulled hot water in from a southern ocean. But there's a reason ponies don't investigate."

"Sirens?" I asked. When Stereo nodded, I took a deep breath. "Are they kin?"

"To us? Sirens are always like we are now. Traveling in small groups, our kind hunt like pack predators. Feather had different ideas, obviously. Ponies need us as much as we need them. There is no reason to lure a pony to their death in the hot currents when you could listen to their happy sounds as they squirm in your grip.

"Ponies are food for us, but they are also our patrons. Out there," Stereo Mix said while gesturing to The Big Warm, "are monsters wearing similar forms to us. But they don't travel too close to Vanhoover, so we can swim safely."

"And find some mares who want you sooo bad." Smooth Vibes seemed to come out of nowhere on my opposite side. "You're a young, hot stallion; new in town, and ready to make the rest of their year pale in comparison to what you'll do."

"Are you talking to Stereo or me?" I asked Smooth. I couldn't deny his words, though. He sounded hungry, and the hunger of my brothers was my hunger too.

Smooth barked out a laugh. "Yes. Absolutely yes."

High spirits filled me. The conversation rolled on and on, promising cute stallions and mares as far as the eye could see once we reached Vanhoover proper. The small towns we had passed on the way here barely had enough for us to get a quick snack and leave each time, and the prospect of a big meal was enticing beyond belief.

Feather Bangs himself joined our little conversation. Stereo Mix and Smooth Vibes became a little subdued at first, but when Feather took up a bouncing, prancing step they seemed to relax. "And I think it might be time to stop pushing your change so much. Let other things happen." Feather cocked an odd look toward my two brothers.

I looked between three smiling, knowing faces; there was more to his words than I understood. Clearing my throat to speak, I was interrupted by Feather kissing me. I stopped in place, trapped by his lips and frozen. All I could do and think was to kiss him back and appreciate the moment.

He was hungry for me. His lips pressed and moved over mine, his tongue flicking out from moment to moment, eventually catching one of my new, pointed teeth. Feather Bangs broke the kiss with a big smile. "I think it's time my little fish got a start on his gem. That means your next few feedings have no transformations done to you after them." He finished up his pronouncement by kissing me (a light peck) on the nose.

Excited anticipation was an amazing emotion. It made days brighter and warmer, and it made evenings a gateway to the future. As we talked back and forth about less important things, I watched as Vanhoover got closer and closer. The city wasn't as big as Canterlot, or Manehatten, but it was still a city.

I liked to think I was getting used to being an emotivore. My brothers and Feather Bangs didn't sustain me but I could still sense their emotions, and they were excited. Something started to feel odd, however. As we got closer to the outer buildings of Vanhoover, a sourness started to fill me.

We were slowing down. The oppressive feeling made my hooves try to curl up, and even Glamour Trot (who had been pulling the wagon) caught up to me.

"Little brother, close yourself down. There's something wrong here." I shuddered at the tone in Glamour's voice, he sounded worried.

I did as Glamour said. As open and free as I had learned to make myself, I squeezed down on my sense of emotion. The world grew dimmer, darker, and lost some of its definition. I hadn't realized how much I had gotten used to feeling with that new sense.

Being one of the less-traveled roads into the city, there wasn't much in the way of fanfare going on to welcome us, but there was two Royal Guard standing at a post. I opened my senses just a tiny bit and felt underlying fear in them as well as a sense of dejection.

"Greetings!" Feather Bangs put his best hoof forward, literally. He held the limb up for the guards to meet with their own, although the two professional soldiers seemed to not be in the mood for it. "Just a traveling bunch of—"

One of the Guardsponies (one that had a shock of white through his mane) shook his head. "Unless you're monster hunters, or secretly the Element Bearers, I don't see what good you can do here. You're better off turning around and leaving."

Feather struck a pose, spending his charisma freely on the two ponies. "Where else would we go? Besides, you said you needed some monster hunters?" There was so much warmth in Feather's tone that it affected me as much as the Royal Guards.

"You're monster hunters?" The second Guardspony (who looked to have a mark on one shoulder) entered the conversation with mild incredulity on his face. But there was more: there was hope.

Feather tossed his bangs from one side to the other, flashing his amazing eyes on the two Guards. "Well, it depends on the monster. What've you got here?"

"Nopony's seen it. All that happens is an eerie music starts up at dusk, and you make sure you tie yourself down to something or else you walk away—never to be seen again," White Slash said. The look in his eyes spoke volumes for what he thought might be happening.

It was at least a little obvious, particularly since I had literally read the book on the monster in question (I had read-the-book for a lot of monsters, Princess Twilight had a whole section devoted to bestiaries).

Glamour heaved a sigh at my side. I turned to face him, and he just gave me a weary smile. "This is something we have to take care, but mostly Feather." His words sounded a little tired, maybe even sad. "A school of sirens cannot allow another to encroach on their waters."

"Th-That's what's going on? Sirens are taking ponies?" I asked.

"No. They're taking Feather's ponies. They're taking what belongs to him." Glamour Trot gestured to the city. "There'll be blood in the water."

"Well!" Feather Bangs' voice cut over our soft conversation. "Looks like you're in luck. Feather Bangs and his fearless band of monster hunters are here. We'll take care of this little problem." The power of Feather's voice cut through the shielding I had over my empathy. I shivered as fear, hopelessness, and an uplifting surge of confidence rushed into me. There was no place for the fear and loss with the power Feather Bangs' inspired.

I watched the two Royal Guard respond to the force of Feather's magic. They stood straighter, their eyes brightened, and I caught the telltale snap of attention as each took on a rigid pose. White Slash and Shoulder Mark looked like Royal Guard again.

Ponies were cheering. There was a celebration that had just spontaneously started the moment we entered Vanhoover. Feather Bangs had gotten me to pull the wagon while Glamour Trot walked at his side.

Glamour was bespelling every pony that that I could see. He was pouring out waves of happy energy that the ponies soaked up

Stereo Mix and Smooth Vibes trotted along in Feather and Glamour's wake. Everypony saw the handsome stallions, the four mighty monster hunters. It hit me: Glamour was doing this so that Feather Bangs didn't have to. He was saving himself for a fight.

Our little parade reached the Royal Guard outpost in the city and stopped. Feather entered, while Glamour Trot turned to face my brothers and I. Pride, anticipation, hope, and safety welled up inside me until I cut it off by clamping down on my empathy again.

"Come on, brothers, we need a feast before tonight," Glamour's words, backed by the rush of the emotional high he was projecting, was practically a force of nature. "Pull the wagon up beside the outpost here, and let us find some morsels."

The load I was pulling was nothing. I didn't just pull the wagon to where Glamour said, I pranced. I barely got myself unhitched and lifted my head, before I noticed the three mares that were gazing at me. They looked hungry, happy, and probably horny too—the siren side of me practically purred.

I tossed my head as I looked over at them. Our eyes made contact and I could taste them. They were perfect, a feast laid out for me. Taking a single step out of the harness I was vaguely aware of one of my brothers at my side.

"Eat up, little fish, you will be the only one that keeps his meal today. Feather needs everything we can give him." Smooth Vibes' lips touched my cheek, and I watched one of the mare's swoon.

I was all action. I rushed forward and caught the fainting mare. Feather Bangs might have reduced my size, but I was a siren now, I was more than I looked. "Careful, ma'am." I held her in my forelegs, having dropped to my haunches to balance her weight.

"Y-You're one of the monster hunters, right?" The voice of one of the comatose mare's friend was breathy, soft. When I looked up into her eyes, I saw so much desire it almost overwhelmed me. "You are!" she said, and I nodded to her. "Protect us. Please. You don't know what it's like when we hear the music. It's calling us next, I just know it."

For a moment I hesitated. There was still a part of me that looked at feeding on ponies as bad. That part judged every "transaction" and found it unfair. It was a vanishingly small part of me now. "We'll have to be close. I can't protect you if you scatter. You tie yourselves up?"

The mare cradled in my legs jerked awake and gazed up at me—I could have fed off her right there and then. She let out a soft whimper and snuggled against my barrel. Miss Snuggles was so passive that I couldn't stop myself from opening my power to her.

Snuggles didn't smell right to my siren senses. There was something wrong with her and I could tell how. "They've fed on you. You got free and came back?" When she nodded sheepishly, I smiled and kissed the bridge of her snout. "You know where they were?" Another nod. "Come on. First you need to tell Feather Bangs, then I will protect you—all of you."

One of Snuggles' friends, not Breathy, started talking. "She hasn't spoken for—for two days. She—"

"Come on. Put her on my back." I half passed Snuggles to her friends (now coined Breathy and Fast Talk), and offered them my back. Practically the same height as them, Breathy and Fast Talk seemed unsure, but as soon as Snuggles wrapped her forelegs around my neck I started walking back where I had seen Feather go: into the outpost.

The Royal Guards were not at the door, nor were they just inside. "Keep close." I didn't need to say it to the mares, they probably would have followed me anywhere. As the cheering outside died away, my ears started to hear arguing from a little further down the hall. I walked until I reached the door and looked inside.

Nearly a dozen big, brave stallions in Royal Guard armor were arguing with each other, while off to the side was Feather Bangs. If a genuine fight started, however, I knew where my bits would be. "Feather?"

He walked like he swam, graceful motion that told me he was a predator. He stopped just before me, peered over my shoulder, and lifted just one eyebrow.

"She has been fed from. Two nights back. She doesn't want to talk, but I think she could lead you—" I didn't get another word out, not with Feather Bangs kissing me. Almost melting on the spot, I sighed happily when he pulled back. I noticed then just how the light seemed to be swirling around Feather—swirling into him. My brothers were feeding, and were feeding him.

"Here I thought my little fish would find himself some damsels and splash around for the rest of the day," Feather said, his voice rising. "I leave you alone for five minutes and you find somepony who can lead us right to their lair." His tone commanded the room by the time he finished, and silence reigned.

"How could you have found out so fast? We haven't even worked out what manner of beast they are!" A Royal Guard stallion who had a touch of gray in his mane, seemed practically pig headed in the face of support.

"Tell them what we face, my delicious Apple, while I talk to your friend." Feather ignored me, murmuring to the mare on my back. I could feel his magic reaching out to her as soft and gentle as a dragonfly's feet touching the water; Feather Bangs was a master artist.

I cleared my throat. "They're sirens. Monsters that roam the seas around Equestria. Their magic involves song, emotion, and mental manipulations. Not to be dismissed as purely mental opponents, a siren can also deliver powerful blasts with their voice, as well as being fierce close-quarters fighters." The words practically tumbled from the book in Twilight's castle.

"Under the docks. There's a cave where they took me. But there was another way out." Snuggles' voice was so soft, but absolutely beautiful. I almost cried at the fear I could hear in her words, a fear that Feather's magic should have washed away. She murmured something else but though my ears were turned back I didn't hear it.

"That is all I need. Four sirens are a challenge, but I won't let them harm this city again." Feather turned back to the Guardsponies assembled, but leaned closer to me first. "Don't feed from her. Keep her safe for me, little fish."

I knew a dismissal when I heard it and turned to leave. I heard, behind me, Feather Bangs start to reveal his plan. "I'll protect you while Feather Bangs does his thing." As I spoke, Snuggles squeezed my neck tighter.

Breathy and Fast Talk led the way back to their home. Each mare would look back at me, her eyes showing worry at first, then relief when I was still there. On my back, Snuggles nuzzled the end of her snout under my mane which let me feel her breath on my fur.

I knew what Snuggles was doing. Each breath she took would fill her senses with my smell. "You're safe," I said. The words earned me a little more of a squeeze from her.

"This is it." Breathy pushed a door open. Fast Talk walked past Breathy and I followed into the home.

Feather was going to deal with the sirens, which meant my job here was mainly to feed and make the mares feel good—a linked task in most instances. I carried Snuggles a little deeper into the home until I found their living room.

Snuggles squirmed on my back and managed to make her way off me and onto the couch. "You won't let me go to the music, will you?" There was hunger in her eyes that ran counter to her words. I don't know how I knew, but there was something about her that seemed ready to run off into the city the moment she heard the siren song.

For almost the first time in my life I wished I was a little larger. There was something about Snuggles that made me want to curl around her and hold her. Of course I could still do that, and I did. Climbing up on the couch I pulled Snuggles closer until her back was against my barrel. "You aren't getting away from me."

Snuggles' aura was so strong and potent that I knew I could happily feed from her, but even if Feather hadn't warned me I wouldn't have fed. Something seemed wrong with her. She squirmed a little to match more of her body against mine and it had the predictable response from me. "If you keep doing that I might just have to take advantage of you."

Giggling, Snuggles kept on squirming until my shaft was rock hard. "You smell so good. You can have me."

Something was wrong. Every alarm bell in my head was ringing. Snuggles might be accommodating, and she might seem willing, but the sense that Feather's changes instilled in me insisted she wasn't right.

"All it took to catch one of them was to dangle our supper in the street." Breathy's voice was no longer breathy at all but had the unmistakable hint of sadism to it. She was very happy something bad had happened, and wasn't afraid to show it.

Fast Talk walked over to where I lay on the couch and smiled down at me. "The young fish are always so gullible. What do you think he will do to get this one back?"

Gears spun in my head. Snuggles was a mare, but the reason she seemed wrong was because she was mind controlled by the sirens. Breathy and Fast Talk were the sirens. "Breathy and Fast Talk are sirens…" I spoke so softly only Snuggles could hear, but when she did she nodded. "Y-You sent Feather to the other side of town."

"Our pet does what we tell her to. She says what words we put in her mouth." Breathy walked into view, her eyes dancing as she drew closer. "And she can only think what thoughts we allow."

My heart started to beat faster. I was, in all likelihood, alone in the lair of the two sirens that held the city in their grip. I tried to move, slowly, but as soon as I did Snuggles pressed back firmer—she pinned me in place.

"Would you like to join her?" Fast Talk walked up and bent to kiss Snuggles. I watched the cloud of emotions around Snuggles seem to swell, but it wasn't devotion they drank from her.

"Are you curious, little fish? You haven't even gotten your gem yet. We could show you a different way to feed, if you let us." As she spoke, Breathy leaned in and murmured her final words against my lips. "Three sirens together. Two mares and a stallion. You would grow strong with us to guide you."

I struggled to find my voice. The two mares were terrifying, and I still hadn't identified what they had even consumed from the mare. "Err, uh. W-What would it do to me?"

Fast Talk let out a little chuckle. "He's thinking about it, Grunge."

"I think he is, Rock," Grunge said to Rock. I had their actual names now. Yay…

"It wouldn't take too long. Maybe a day. It would cost us all of the helplessness in this little thrall, but we can get others." Grunge pressed her lips to mine in a kiss. It was more than just a kiss, though, it was a test.

Training kicked in. I slipped into the role of submissive partner and kissed back. Curling my legs tightly around Snuggles (I still didn't have a proper name for her, and I don't know if the sirens cared enough to remember hers), I reached one leg up and behind Grunge's neck to pull her closer.

"He's so eager! But he can't feed on her yet. We need our little thrall to take a message to the big-bad siren stallion. Can you bide your time with us, little fish? We'll teach you all sorts of things." Still talking quicker than normal, Rock kissed my cheek.

Somepony—somefish—who was onboard with them would push—would push and claim their place at the mares' sides. I switched targets, twisting my head just enough to force my lips to Rock's, then back to Grunge. Pleasing ponies who wanted a particular thing from me was what Feather had been training me for, doing it for a pair of sirens was not too different.

Rock pulled back first, but when Grunge tried to I growled into the kiss. Shoving Snuggles, I pushed my way to my hooves with one foreleg hooked around Grunge's neck. I opened my eyes to stare at her, trying to exert some measure of dominance into my gaze before I finally let go.

"Let me feast on her. We could own this city." I almost couldn't believe what I had said but as the words met the two siren's ears I watched their grins grow. "Come on. Forget the others. If we lie low they will give up and leave. I know what they're like."

"No. We do this as we planned. You might get to be our stallion but we will make sure this is an equal partnership." Rock looked askance at Grunge.

For a few heartbeats I thought I might be able to get them to fight. Grunge looked hungry, horny, and ready to do whatever I said. Rock thumped her fellow siren in the shoulder and that trance over Grunge stopped.

Ignoring their sudden revival of harmony, I turned to Snuggles. She was still seething with exaggerated emotions. I couldn't feel for any but her adoration, and most of it was aimed at the other sirens. Nonetheless, I started to feed.

A hoof connected with my cheek before I even managed a bite. I was so glad.

"Don't you dare feed from her without our permission!" Her hoof held up, Rock looked ready to strike again. "You are just a little fish, still, and until you have been remade anew you will not feed!"

There was power in the last few words. I trembled a little and looked up. Rock was about as angry as I thought she would be, but Grunge had that look again. Grunge kept looking toward Snuggles then back to me; a different hunger burning in her eyes for each target.

I snarled up at Rock. "You don't want a simpering colt. Don't try to make me into one!"

"Or what?" Stepping forward, Rock had a mix of desire and challenge in her eyes.

As fast as I could, I jumped forward. Rock was actually caught by surprise when I grabbed her and wrestled her to the floor. She was stronger than me, and the moment her mind caught up with reality I knew I wouldn't have a hope against her. Standing over Rock I was aware that she was female, I was male, and there was a strong dynamic of dominance rocking. It also didn't help that I was a little hard from Snuggles' attention still.

Rock shoved her lips up against mine. Caught up in the moment I shoved downward. She lost her grip on her transformation. A huge tail spread out behind me and Rock grew scaly and huge. I didn't hesitate—I couldn't—and pressed into her. I barely had a few fins that didn't stretch past my fur, but the acting Feather (and others) had taught me was enough to fake the differences.

A soft sound started, a sweet, delicious sound. But it was promising things I didn't want. Rock had started to sing a wordless song of power and domination. I tried to fight it, but the music was insidious, and she was singing it practically in my ear.

Grunting, I started bucking my hips, driving myself into her body. I'd never seen a female siren before, and certainly hadn't had sex with any of my brothers in their full form, but she certainly didn't seem to be complaining about my efforts.

The music seeped into me more and more. She wasn't singing it to control me—far from it. I had to fight not to let go. If I tried to prove dominance over a pure-blood siren I would lose. But though the game I played terrified me, I managed to ride both the role and Rock.

I was nearing my end and knew what was coming. She might be excited enough to let me dominate for some of the game, but she wouldn't have that. I felt when she decided to take control back and had no chance to stop her.

Just as quickly as I had first pushed her to her back, she pushed me sideways. I tried to keep my balance but there was a predator three times my weight shoving me.

"It has been too long." Rock undulated her body above me, rolling her coiled tail and capturing my shaft.

Despite all the terror, the sex wasn't bad. Despite her need to play games, Rock seemed intent on getting us both to release. Her insides were hot but it was a fire that matched my own heat. It didn't take much more for me to loose myself within her.

Rock's eyes flashed with fire. "Y-You didn't have per—" Mid sentence, mid word, I delivered a hardest buck I could and had the pleasure of watching Rock's eyes roll. Her tail curled around one of my legs and squeezed, while her forelegs held around my spine.

With my body intent on breeding successfully with Rock, I had the key to her magic at the end of my snout. Her gem shone a sickly yellow and seemed to throb slightly with her heartbeat. I was still mid orgasm, my shaft delivering my seed deep within her.

The rush of pleasure started to fade. I could feel a touch of lethargy settling in. One ear twitched, and I found myself hearing a whispered, one-sided conversation.

"… to him. Tell him that we have his little fish. If he agrees to leave the city we will release this little minnow." Grunge's voice was low.

"Yes, Master." Snuggles sounded deliriously happy to be spoken to, and a moment later I heard the door open and close.

Part of me was relieved: they would not have me feast on Snuggles just yet. But there was more going on here. I looked up at Rock and at her satisfied grin. They wanted a tiger, not a kitten. Shoving again, I felt her coils tighten for a moment before she relaxed. "You think we're done?"

Her eyes widened, then focused on me again. With a laugh, Rock began to sing again.

"You can have my sister once more, then I am going to claim you." Grunge sounded like she wanted to prove she was in charge. I had to let her keep believing that until Feather Bangs could find me.

To be continued...

Dominant

The sex was energetic, forceful, but as often as they shoved me down I shoved back. I didn't dare feed, but neither did I feel them try the same. It's hard to say it wasn't fun, but there are other ponies—other sirens—I would have much rather been with.

For a time my world was large, slick sea creatures. They reminded me enough of Feather Bangs that their forms built my arousal, but their personalities poisoned the experiences down to barely enjoyable.

All three of us were relaxing and recovering after our exertions. A sound tickled at my ears and drew me to look up. The front door was opening, and I had a moment of excitement—surely it would be Feather Bangs coming in.

"Masters! I delivered the message!" The feminine voice belonged to Snuggles, of course.

Grunge squirmed beside me. I was still within Rock, and the movement caused me to shift inside her. Rock and I groaned at the same time, but it was Grunge her lifted herself free and, with a flicker of her magic, was once more wearing the form of a pony.

"What did he say?" Grunge shook herself off, and I couldn't help but admire her form. Sirens, no matter what disguise they wear, truly were beautiful beyond measure.

Snuggles looked a little worried now. She took a step back from Grunge and lowered her head. "M-Master! He said—said, 'Keep him. He is a weak and useless colt.'"

Perking her ears, Grunge faltered for a step, then moved faster. She rushed at Snuggles and pressed her snout to the mare's ear. I couldn't hear what she sang, but I watched as Snuggles wobbled, then fell to her belly.

"Come, little minnow. Your previous master might not have recognized your strength, but we have." Grunge's voice was tinged with her song, and sounded more and more inviting.

I tried to stand, but had to back up a little before I could properly disengage from Rock. My movement earned a groan from Rock, but it was Grunge I was focused on. She was a beautiful mare from any angle, but with her tail flicking, and me looking at her mostly from behind, she was not just beautiful but desirous.

"Come and feed for the first time, properly, as a siren should. Can't you taste her on the air? There is nothing she can do and she knows it."

I nodded my head and took a deep breath. There was a glut of power—just like Grunge said. The meal called to me, as did Grunge's form, but my mind was working through a puzzle. If Snuggles quoted Feather correctly, then something wasn't right. Feather Bangs had never called me a colt. He had never hinted that he even liked using the word to describe anypony or anyfish.

Instead of walking up beside Grunge, instead I mounted her. I had no stamina left to speak of, but I hoped it would buy me time. "If I am to join you, then let's make the moment perfect."

Grunge pushed back as I thrust forward. Her body captured mine and we were joined physically. While I began a slow rhythm, Grunge shifted her back again and again, meeting my thrusts with her own silken grip.

The feast before me was beckoning, and the hunger I had entered the city with was worse for the physical stress I had put myself through. All I needed to do was lean a little further forward and open my mouth. I did so, of course. The smell of Snuggles' helplessness was heavy and the taste was already on my tongue before the first bite.

"Feed…" Grunge's voice, imbued with power, swelled around me.

I exhaled and prepared to take a bite. I was already turning into a siren, why not try another flavor?

"Oh, ah-oh!"

The masculine voice shattered Grunge's spell. I closed my mouth without taking a bite and slowly turned toward the window—a little smile tugged at my lips.

"When you appeared before me my heart stopped beating, stars crossed the sky to come see what I was seeing." The door crashed open, its lock unable to withstand Smooth Vibes' charge. On Smooth's back, however, was the pony singing: Feather Bangs. "You were the one, that made me believe I could fly!"

Stereo Mix and Glamor Trot leaned just their heads in. "Whoa, whoa, whoa!"

I reared up a little higher and shoved down as hard as I could. Grunge, caught by surprise, collapsed under me and I started to pull free of her.

Feather Bangs slid across the floor to beside me, laying on his side. "Birds could not sing a song that's as beautiful, I'd do anything, that's irrefutable." I'd heard his song before, of course, but he wasn't singing it to Sugar Belle this time—he was singing it to me.

Behind me I heard Rock moving, swirling, getting her body into the air. The sound of her mouth opening and lungs filling worried me.

"'Cause you are the sun! Painting my heart in the sky!" Singing on, Feather Bangs stared up at me as if I was everything to him. It pained my heart to see him so open, so bare.

"Whoa-oh, oh!" Stereo, Glamour, and Smooth all had Feather Bangs' backing now, and they posed perfectly behind him.

"You can't stop this, you can't try!" Rock's voice was harsh, discordant. She cut through Feather Bangs' love song like a rusty, chipped sword.

"We are fed and you're bone dry!" Dispelling her disguise as she rose from the floor, Grunge's voice was even worse than Rock's. She was out of tune and even fighting against what little tone Rock had produced. "Give up, Surrender. Your song doesn't even fly."

To my shock, however, Feather Bangs and my brothers didn't pay any attention to the two female sirens.

"Little-little fish, whoa-oh!"

"When will you tell me that you feel the same?" His eyes locked on mine, Feather Bangs brushed away all my thoughts of Grunge and Rock.

I returned his gaze, and we sang together. "Like an angel on a candy cane, or the sunlight shining through a drain!"

Reaching a hoof down to him, I pulled Feather Bangs to his hooves, and our lips touched. Enchantment, magic, power. He fed me adoration and I drank it down. I heard Grunge and Rock trying to sing their own song, the horrid tone scratching at the edges of the tune Feather bangs had built, but with my voice having joined in the female sirens' voices were nothing.

Feather broke the kiss first. "Be my sugarplum."

I couldn't stop the music, it was thrumming through me like a tornado. "I will be your watermelon."

"Every time you smile…"

"…I can feel my heart a-swellin'."

The first time I'd heard his love ballad I'd grown increasingly angry at it, but now it was aimed at me I couldn't be happier. Part of me wondered if that is what annoyed me all along.

A gasp for breath drew everyone's attention toward Rock and Grunge. Both sirens stared at us with fury in their eyes.

"You tricked us?!" Rock's voice trembled with barely suppressed fury.

"Eeyup." It was an old word for me now, but never had it been more appropriate. "You were always gonna lead Feather back here. All Ah had to do was waste your time. It was fun, kinda, but you're too pushy."

"Pushy?" Glamour Trot smacked the side of his mouth with a hoof in dismay. "For shame, girls. What did you go doing that for?"

Grunge screamed, drew a breath, and I watched power gather in her throat.

Feather Bangs' lips brushed my cheek, and he turned his head to face Grunge. Soft pink power built in Feather's mouth, and I watched it leap out to be met by a pale yellow light from Grunge.

Their magic burned in the air; a huge orb had formed where the two beams met, and it crackled with destructive potential. Feather Bangs took a step toward Grunge.

Rock jumped beside Grunge, opened her mouth, and added her own magic to their side. If the extra power against him worried Feather, however, he didn't show it.

Another step. Another. As he got closer and closer to Rock and Grunge, Feather Bangs pushed their power back further. I walked at his side, my shoulder and hip rubbing his with each step. A touch at my other side revealed Glamour Trot, and I looked across Feather Bangs' back to see Stereo Mix and Smooth Vibes on his other side.

We were like a wave, dragged along with Feather Bangs and pushing him. His bright pink magic had split, and each end of the torrents of energy ended in a ball of power just a hoof's length away from Rock and Grunge.

"A siren," Glamour Trot said, "can have their affinity shifted in two ways. The first involves feeding a young siren a glut of a new energy type—which is what they were going to do to you, little fish—while the second involves combat. A greater siren can overwhelm another's defenses and power, and force their own food down their throat.

"This is not easy, nor common, but you are about to witness it." Glamour turned his face toward me and kissed my cheek. "You did well to distract them for so long, little fish, but now let our master do his thing."

I blushed at the intimate touch, caught staring into Glamour Trot's eyes. A flicker from the corner of my eye. Turning to face the action, I realized that Rock, Grunge, and Feather Bangs had all stopped blasting their magic out, but the two orbs of power remained just before Rock and Grunge.

"Did anyfish send you here, or did you come on your own?" Feather's voice was soft with not a hint of emotion.

"W-W-We thought—" Rock began, but was hit by Grunge.

"You feed on adoration. We've heard of you!" Grunge almost spat in Feather Bangs' face. "You don't frighten me!"

"When you return to your clan, tell them I won't send any more of their little fish back to them. Tell them quick, though, I don't know how they'll react to two of their fish feeding on adoration instead of helplessness." Opening his mouth wide, Feather Bangs delivered a perfect note to the air.

The two orbs slammed into Rock and Grunge, shoved down each's throat. The backwash of power smashed out the side of the building, and as the debris fell around them, Feather Bangs sang another note that shot the two sirens out toward the sea.

I stared at the display of power. Feather Bangs hadn't reverted to his siren form at all during the fight, and seeing not just the apparently tricky procedure that retuned both Rock and Grunge's feeding habits, but also him blast them away with raw power shocked me.

Still standing, staring, mouth agape, I wasn't ready when Feather turned toward me and booped my nose with a hoof. "Come on, little fish, time to tell the Royal Guard their problem is dealt with." But I saw his eyes shift, turning to a slumped heap of pony on the floor.

I turned to look at the mare I knew only as Snuggles. "They were feeding off her. They used her to distract me while they—"

"While they tried to steal my little fish. She is blameless in this, of course." Feather Bangs stepped over to Snuggles. "Miss? Miss?" A thin trail of magic flowed out of Feather's mouth, and I could hear him whistling a small song. Where the magic touched Snuggles—her nose—it seemed to flood into her.

She snapped her eyes open and tilted her head up. Her lips met Feather's, and I felt a little envious—his kisses were that good. "W-What happened?"

"You just woke up. I'm sure you had a long and strange dream." Feather Bangs' trail of magic tugged from Snuggles' nose to her ears. It spiraled and split apart, delivering his will directly to the parts of her most susceptible to it. "Can you stand up?"

Snuggles struggled a little, then twice as hard when the source of the magic enchanting her drew back. Her hooves found the floor and she got to wobbly feet. "O-Of course. That was the strangest dream. Who are you?"

Feather breathed a few powerful notes out, and I watched the mare's aura suddenly flood with brightness. "My name's Feather Bangs. What's yours?"

"Summercrisp," Snuggles, or I guess it's Summercrisp now, said. "Summercrisp Pear."

Something inside me snapped at the name. Ever since the revelations we'd learned about our parents, Applejack, Apple Bloom, and myself had felt connected to the Pear family as much as the Apples we had always been. I felt myself moving, and I was soon beside Feather. "S-Summercrisp Pear? Do you know Grand Pear?"

Summercrisp blinked and looked at me. I watched her carefully nod (probably sensible considering what she was waking up from.) "H-He's my grandpa. Do you know him?"

Feather Bangs whispered a few more words to the air—that I couldn't catch—but his magic gave a last push into Summercrisp. Her eyes widened a little, and I watched her lips part. "Little fish, take care of her. Make sure her memories of sirens are happy ones. No feeding." And with that he turned and led the way, with Glamour, Stereo, and Smooth, out the broken front door.

"I-I…" My throat ran dry. Feather's words were less than ambiguous, but did he know we were cousins? Soft warmth touched my lips, and I realized Summercrisp was kissing me. For half a second I was shocked, and ready to break it off, but then her tongue poked through and I felt a rise in passion again. Summercrisp's desires were obvious—her needs plain.

Her lips were hungry and soon got the reply from me that she wanted. I pressed forward, my eyes fluttering closed as I kissed Summercrisp back. My ears could vaguely hear Feather Bangs, outside the house, explaining something with smooth tones. He'd given me a task, and even if feeding wasn't my goal, I was going to ensure Summercrisp felt good.

Breaking the kiss, I ran my tongue from the base of her chin up and over her nose. "This is your home?" My only reply was a nod. "Bedrooms are upstairs?" Another nod. "On my back, little filly."

I felt Summercrisp's chest press to my rump, then she pushed herself forward like a stallion on a mare. For a brief moment I wondered if she knew how ready I made myself for other stallions, but the notion she knew how free with myself I was faded—she was playing a game. "Oh no! Miss! What are you doing?"

The pure giggle Summercrisp made was as much music to my ears as what Feather Bangs had produced, but I was quick to realize that she was only capable of such because of his music. "Putting a naughty colt in his place." Her groin, devoid of anything able to penetrate me, shoved against my rump with a firm thrust of her hips, but then she climbed up further.

She shifted herself about atop me, and I was aware of just how good it felt to be with a mare who was having fun. The sirens had been having fun, too, but just the scent of Summercrisp made me long to hear her laughter. She was a pony—she was food.

I was more comfortable with thinking of ponies as food mostly because they were. The main issue, however, was that we weren't actually harming them. What was more, seeing what Feather Bangs had done here brought it back home: he had defended the city against two monsters.

"Where to, milady?" I turned my head to see Summercrisp living up to the first name I'd given her: she was sprawled on my back with a deliriously happy smile on her face. When she didn't respond, I tried again. "Milady, where to?"

Opening her eyes just enough to make sure I was watching, Summercrisp licked her lips. "My bedroom. Upstairs, first on the left."

"Of course." I started walking for the stairs, slowly ascended them—while Summercrisp rubbed her belly against my back, and looked into what was definitely her bedroom. "Would milady like a bath?"

Her aura flickered and pulsed in a way I recognized as delight before she even replied. "You know what? A bath sounds wonderful. Next room on the left."

Sure enough, the next room was a bathroom. I walked in, with Summercrisp still on my back, and began running the bath. My training at Bath Salts' hooves rushed back to me, and although Summercrisp was a little more intimate than Bath had ever been the procedures transferred quite nicely.

She was quiet while the bath filled, and even as I stepped in to let her slide to the water she kept quiet. The water itself was just above tepid, and both my hooves that sank into it trembled a little with a desire to dive in completely. Water was my natural environment after all.

"Ohhh…" With Summercrisp in the water I reached for her bath equipment—soft brush and soap. She offered me her back, and so I began the task of cleaning her.

It didn't take long for me to be done with her back and what of her sides I could reach. "Turn over please, milady." My voice broke some trance that held her, and with my hooves guiding she rolled over. "Thank you."

I began under Summercrisp's neck, working down to her chest and barrel. She stared up at me, spellbound, as I began to clean her dainty forelegs. Once even the hooves of her forelegs were cleaned, I returned to her belly and started down further.

Bath Salts had warned me that some mares had oversensitive teats, some had prominent ones (usually a sign of recent foaling), and some mares wouldn't want to be touched there at all. I tested the waters, gently stroking closer and closer to Summercrisp's udder until I leaned down and blew warm air over the sensitive flesh. "Does milady wish the full treatment?"

"I… She does." Her voice was caught between giggle and gasp.

I proceeded. The soft brush circled the sensitive flesh of her udder, then carefully I worked it between Summercrisp's teats. My work earned me a moan with no hint of pain in it—I continued.

While I kept one hoof gently stroking around her udder—earning me the happiest sounds from Summercrisp yet—I cleaned one back leg and then the other. Her aura was bright and swollen, the damage from Rock and Grunge barely noticeable.

She'd already given me permission for intimacy, but I still took the final massage slow. My hoof trailed the soft brush down the inside of her thigh and around behind her. I made sure it missed her vulva and anus, but came back in for her dock. I knew what she'd be thinking—whether I would touch her—but I quickly put her mind to rest. While I brushed Summercrisp's dock with the brush, my hoof traced up and along her vulva.

Despite Feather Bangs' efforts, I was still hungry. Part of me wanted to push Summercrisp down and pin her in place while I rutted her, but that wasn't me. I rubbed her slowly with one hoof while I reached along her perineum to her udder again.

Summercrisp made happy little gasps as I stroked slowly along her rear lips, but it seemed to be my gentle pinching of each teat that got the most reaction. She twitched her legs—both of them—no matter which nipple I tweaked. Seeing an opportunity, I opened my mouth and captured her left-rear hoof between my lips.

While stroking her fire higher, I sucked and licked at her hoof. The soft pad of her frog twitched at my touch, but she held her leg steady. Her cry of bliss, when it came, startled me. Though my hoof was a little damp with her discharge, it was plenty slick with the water of the bath as Summercrisp shouted her joy.

Experience, though it wasn't as great as any of my brothers', had taught me to bring her down slowly. I kept my hoof on her vulva still while I slowly rubbed her teats. Her muscles twitched and jolted, the aftershocks my continued attention caused bringing forth more gasps and cries from her lips.

Summercrisp wasn't a cousin to me, she wasn't even the same species as me, but I could make her happier than the previous two sirens in her life, if for just a moment before I had to move on. With one last lick of her frog, I drew my lips from her hoof.

"Would milady wish more?" I asked.

She let out a sound halfway between giggle and squeal. "Milady would like to finish up in this tub before she shrivels up and surrenders herself to the waters forever. Then she would like to go to bed and snuggle."

Snuggling could mean exactly what it sounded like, or it could mean sex. I wouldn't have minded either way—even without Feather's command, Summercrisp was not an unpleasant mare to please. I'd been drawn to her from the crowd, but knowing her more had just made this more fun.

Reaching into the tub I curled my forelegs under Summercrisp and lifted. I set her back on her hooves outside the tub, and set about drying her off. Any time she tried to lift her own hoof, I gently patted it down and continued. I brushed her fur down, then set to work on her mane and tail.

When she was dry and primped, I turned and offered Summercrisp my back again. "Please, milady." I didn't need to see her, or hear her giggle, to know when she was climbing up. She settled her weight on my back again, and stretched her head forward so her snout pressed into my mane. "Where to?"

"Out the door and right. Second door… right." As I walked, she spoke. I turned into the appropriate room and saw a beautiful bed.

I advanced within, using one rear hoof to kick the door closed, and made my way to the bed. The bedroom window was open, letting in a wonderful sea breeze that sang a wonderful song in my nose. I could have almost written poetry I was so happy.

As I closed the window, I heard Stereo Mix's voice from outside. "Our colleague is a doctor, and will take care of the young mare until she is well enough. In the meantime, please keep repairing her house."

I smiled at the simple lie and closed the window. When I turned back to see if Summercrisp had climbed into bed, I could see she had made room behind herself under the covers. She turned her head just enough to spot me watching her.

Walking over to the bed, I didn't hesitate to slide under the covers and pull them up around me. Summercrisp pressed herself back as I pushed forward—there was no sex, only a cuddle.

I was still yawning. We were walking away from Vanhoover, and for one of the first times I was pulling the wagon. It was a wild day, with rough weather blowing in from the North Luna Ocean that the weather pegasi of the city were reluctant to disperse.

Each step I took put more distance between me and Summercrisp. My urge to run back and protect her was strong, but Feather Bangs had already taken care of my worries. I looked to the stallion in question.

Feather had sung a little song to Summercrisp, one that would make her hooves itch for higher ground.

I walked with even, strong steps, not realizing that in my distraction my brothers had fallen back, and Feather Bangs was walking at my side.

"Two days." Feather's voice had an edge of excitement to it. "You distracted those good-for-nothing harpies for two days. Was it just sex?"

"Nnope." Despite everyfish's best efforts I still had a twang to my voice with nope and yup. "They told me early that they wanted a third to hunt with them. They tried to make me into one of them.

"So I figured they wanted a stallion their equal. I tried to go one better."

Feather Bangs let out a little chuckle. "Did it work?"

"I think it almost did. Rock…" I thought back to the wild mare who I'd plowed, even in her siren form, until she was little more than a whimpering mess. "She was full of pep. Tried to wear me down."

Breaking into laughter, Feather Bangs danced a little as he walked beside me. "She tried to tire out one of my boys on her own? Ambition cost her."

"If Grunge didn't take over I think I might have had a chance of just keeping Rock sated." I sighed in counterpoint to Feather's laughter. "But she still had enough to fight you at the end."

"That wasn't a fight, McIntosh. That was a pair of minnows who thought they could take from my sea." Feather Bangs gestured to the surrounding land with a little twist. "All this is mine. I should have sent them back floating with the tide."

The cold certainty in Feather's last few words reminded me that the company I kept was with monsters. I gulped and looked at him, and there was something I needed to know. "Why didn't you?"

"Because they're still kin, and young kin at that. Neither of them has a hope of going scale-to-scale with me for another two hundred years. Besides,"—Feather Bangs shed his cold demeanor like an unwanted cloak—"they showed me how amazing my own little fish was. You took on two powerful sirens—powerful compared to you—and made sure they didn't get what they wanted."

I wasn't ready for the kiss. His lips were soft against my mouth, and just the gentlest touch of his hoof on my cheek stalled the cart and caused me to melt against him.

Then I felt the roar of power.

The kiss became secondary to being fed. I'd been hungry for days—practically running on empty—but Feather was white-hot with power. A sharp sting in my chest jerked my mind back from wallowing in the meal.

Feather Bangs pulled back and glanced down. "I thought that'd do the trick."

I looked at his smirking face before looking down to my chest. A tiny, soft-yellow gemstone rested in my chest. It was embedded in such a way as I couldn't see through it, but I sure could feel it. Magic welled within those yellow depths.

Raising a hoof, I gently touched the flesh around the gem. There were what seemed like veins running to it, but when I touched one with the softest part of my frog, I couldn't feel a pulse. "It's amazing."

"It will grow as you grow. It's part of you now. You're a siren of adoration." Feather Bangs reached up to flick his mane out of his eyes, then nuzzled my cheek. "We'll be in Tall Tale by tomorrow afternoon. I used to have some contacts there, but things have been a little odd on this side of Equestria."

"Did you do it?!" Stereo Mix poked his head around the side of the wagon behind me. He was quickly joined by Smooth Vibes and Glamour Trot.

Without turning, or saying a word, I unhooked from the wagon and turned around to face them. I'd seen all three stallions be super serious, super sexy, and super teachers, but I'd never seen them all turn silly at the same time.

"That looks so cute!"

"Our little fish is now really a siren!"

Smooth Vibes, unlike our other brothers, just leaned down and licked the gem.

My legs wobbled, my eyes rolled up in my head, and I managed a little sigh of surprised bliss before I was laying in the middle of the road. I stared at nothing, my mind still reeling from the fizz of stimulation Smooth's tongue on my gem had caused.

"Just for that, you have to do his job now." Glamour's voice seemed to come from miles away, even though I could see him looking into my eyes one at a time.

Through the daze of confusion I felt Glamour Trot lift me in his magic and carry me into the back of it. The huge bed within was so comfortable that when he lay me down on it, I stretched and sprawled out like a cat.

Looking up at a smiling Glamour Trot, I couldn't stop myself from circling the word cat. "Meow."

"How does it feel?" Glamour's words seemed to come from a mile away, and they didn't make sense for a few moments. Finally, however, my brain shoved aside enough cotton wool to work.

I took ten slow breaths and rolled onto my back. "I feel amaz—good. I feel good." Big words were, it seems, off my menu until I was fully back in my right mind. "What did that lick do?"

"It wasn't just a lick. If you, or anypony else, touches the gem, it's just a slightly sensitive part of you. But if another siren of your empathic alignment does it, while channeling power into the touch…" He shrugged.

It took me some time to understand what he said—particularly the longer words. I nodded to him when I finally worked it out.

When Glamour Trot leaned toward my chest, I froze. I watched him extend his tongue from a grinning mouth, and power seemed to thrum through him. He touched the gem and the fuzz in my head grew too thick to think around.

I woke up the next day to the sensation of somepony licking me in a very sensitive spot. Moving and thinking were possible, but the tongue tracing the inner ring of my first anal sphincter was offering a persuasive argument in support of just remaining still.

Hedonism was never something I'd really thought about before, but with a talented tongue eager to explore and massage my anal ring I had a moment to do it justice. Was it really hedonism to just enjoy accepting the pleasure another was enjoying giving?

What about the feeding we did? Was I deluding myself in that? Those ponies enjoyed what we did with them so much it gave us the energy to live. Was I metaphorically pushing ponies toward hedonistic lifestyles?

A particularly deep lick coaxed a moan from my throat, and then the tongue was gone. I whined and lifted my head to see a smiling Smooth Vibes laying just behind me. "You're too good at that," I said.

Smooth licked his lips. "Feather made you, somehow, even more perfect. The strong musk you used to have is lighter now, and rather than the huge pouting anus you have something more compact. I loved how you were, but now you are something else. Your muscles twitch whenever I touch them, and I—"

"We're at Tall Tale. Get your tongue out of him and come out to explore." Stereo Mix didn't even poke his head in, but I could hear amusement in his voice—like the darkness of Vanhoover was long gone.

A Little Slip

Tall Tale was a town about the same size as Ponyville (which seemed a lifetime away now). There were towns around this size all over Equestria, with ponies gathered together in peace and harmony, living and loving—and feeding us.

As we walked our cart toward the edge of town, I could smell the curiosity in the air. I felt a touch at my side—starting at my flank and moving forward—that included nuzzles and nibbles.

"I know that last one was tough, but you did well." Feather Bangs' didn't stop until he nuzzled under my muzzle. "And now you have your own gem. The legends of sirens are old enough to not be common, but we can't risk somepony seeing you with those fins and that gemstone."

Without even meaning to my hoof lifted and felt the hard shape embedded in my chest. Twilight had books about sirens, about three sisters. "I've read a book about sirens, remember? How do I hide?"

"You need to memorize every part of the illusion I made for you. That is the ideal for your pony-body now. Do you remember it?"

Of course, I did. Sleek, compact stallion with expressive and expansive wings. That white fur—white as Rarity's—and the pink hair with another streak of white that drew attention to the intensely blue eyes with thick lashes. But there was muscle under the coat that tipped the entire ensemble from possibly feminine to definitely male.

"Yup. I remember." That image lingered each night in my dreams, and I ached to see it in the real world again. For the first time in my life I shivered with excitement.

Feather Bangs walked around me. He casually touched me again and again. When he returned to stand in front of me, I looked at him with excitement. "I'll supply the magic, you supply the form. This isn't an illusion, McIntosh. Once you do this, you will be that stallion."

I nodded to him. The moment I moved I felt power—Feather's power—flow around me. This wasn't formless magic. I could feel the spell searching for the form. With an excited whinny I didn't think I was capable of making, I pushed that shape into the magic.

The magic stopped.

Feather let out a little chuckle. "Every detail, McIntosh. You have to imagine every part of the stallion I'll make you. Each hair on his ears, the ears themselves, the curve of his cheeks and the glisten in his eyes. You have to imagine all of it."

It took us five tries before I made an image in my head that the spell could use. The moment the magic picked up the picture I gave it I knew it was going to work. The power wrapped the image and spread it out and over me like a net.

There was no changeling fire, nor was it an instant pop transformation like I'd seen Princess Twilight perform. It started at the tip of my snout.

My nose bleached white, my teeth reshaped and jaw adjusted, and the magic started to wash backwards. I let out a squeak of surprise, then a moan of delight as it found the rest of my face, my eyes, and then my mane.

I squirmed and shook as my shoulders shrank—the last of their visible bulk fading under my new smooth, white coat. Turning my head I watched as the magic reached my new wings. One moment there was only smooth fur, the next there was a pair of sleek, feather-covered limbs that I'd never had before. The feeling of new muscles, of new skin, was amazing. I stretched my mind out and explored the new sensations.

"Somefish likes his new wings." Stereo Mix's voice did nothing to steal my attention away from my changing body.

As I worked the wings, I felt new muscles guide new bones into hinging at new joints. The change hadn't slowed, however, and I could vaguely feel my body being squeezed down all the way to my flank.

Arching my spine—and you better believe it flexed a lot more than it ever had before—I stretched my legs, wings, neck and tail. I turned my head, holding the pose, and looked at Stereo Mix. Then I stuck my tongue out at him.

Stereo shuddered visibly, but though I had a good angle I didn't see him get any further excited.

I straightened up and walked toward him, slow and slightly prancing (like I'd always dreamed of doing). "Tonight we'll find two stallions and teach them how glorious our bodies are, together."

Locked in a gaze with me, Stereo Mix smiled and took a step closer, then another, and one more so that our lips touched. He was needy and insistent—his tongue searched around my mouth before sliding along my own.

Flapping my wings a little, I was amazed at how intense and wonderful everything felt. I let Stereo shove my tongue around before fighting back and shoving into his mouth.

"I take it you approve, Stereo?" Feather's voice came from right beside us. As one, Stereo and I turned our heads and located our target. Keeping contact with Stereo Mix's lips, I pressed against Feather Bangs' mouth and licked along his grinning lips. But Feather pulled back after the most cursory of kisses. "Enough, my fish. Come and let us swim the waters of this town and find those ponies that need our tender care."

I broke the kiss with a laugh. "I'm sure we can find somepony!"

Town after town. Each time I found myself possessing more power than before. Feather Bangs taught me everything: I could sing a pony into a daze and whisper commands to them, I could empower my voice with raw energy and cause explosive blasts, and I could look into the heart of a pony and see exactly what they wanted.

As sirens, we used none of that. The only spell we ever relied upon was our transformation. We didn't encounter any other sirens, although there was often little problems in a town that four close brothers could help with.

The deserts of southern Equestria had been interesting, but it was Appleloosa that truly startled me when we reached it. The passage of time had been impossible to track—we'd done at least two full circles around Equestria, and never found the same town more than once, except for Neighagra.

Apple trees—Apple family trees, that is—surrounded the town. I was outside the wagon, which meant I wore my pony form. The gemstone in my chest had grown, and I had started to grow too. When I wasn't a pony, I had noticeable fangs and a pair of red, slit eyes.

"Your eyes wander around with an air of familiarity." Glamour Trot lived up to his name, prancing at my side. I couldn't blame him—I was prancing too.

"I have kin here." My voice was lighter and a few octaves higher than it used to be, not that I didn't still sound like a stallion, but I now had the larynx of a singer.

Glamour burst out laughing, but his trot never broke stride with mine. "You have kin everywhere. What's special about here?"

I let out a soft wicker of annoyance. "I visited my kin here. Cousin Braeburn moved out this way, and if it wasn't for my sister and her friends, he would have moved right back. It's grown."

"Maybe we should see if this cousin has something he needs from us? Did he marry?" Given the choice, Glamour would always hunt couples. He would tease stallion and mare until both gave in and partook of him, and Glamour Trot was a heady drink indeed.

I ruffled my wings. "Don't know. How long have we been on the road?" The joy of moving, with a pony as beautiful as Glamour Trot at my side, was its own reward.

"I've been traveling with Feather for nearly six hundred years. You have barely marked up ten." The happy look Glamour gave me said that he regretted not a single year. "Don't worry, Sure Beat, we have plenty more time together."

The thought of ten times as many years spent with my brothers only filled me with anticipation for the future, but then I remembered Glamour's earlier words. "You think we should pay cousin Braeburn a visit?"

"That depends on many things—your desire to taste his balls being highest."

The casual way that Glamour referred to sex had been brushing off. Rather than any of the normal pony reactions such an image should cause, instead my mouth watered. "I bet he keeps them close-trimmed."

Glamour Trot's eyes gleamed. "Soft and fuzzy? What will you bet?"

"First taste," I said.

We were just rolling into town. Behind us was the wagon, being pulled by Smooth Vibes. I kept my eyes on the ponies walking around (most of them stopping to stare at the newcomers), without shifting my gaze. It wasn't a siren trick, just the fruit of years of practice.

I recognized one or two ponies from the last time I'd been here, but, for the most part, the town was full of strangers. Then I spotted Her.

Marble Pie'd always carried a certain amount of strength, but in the ten years and change since I'd seen her last she had grown-up. Gone was any trace of the young mare I'd been special someponies with. She spared less than a glance at us, her attention instead pulled to a stallion walking up to her side. "I should have known."

"Please tell me you're not joking. That stunning gray-pelted mare and the yellow stallion kissing her? This is going to be a blast!" I could tell Glamour was watching the pair, despite his otherwise apparent lack of interest in them. "I call dibs on the mare first."

"You're about eleven years too late. We used to date." I had the distinct pleasure of seeing Glamour Trot's mouth fall open in surprise. "But sure, you can have her 'first'."

We passed the point where we could watch the pair without letting them know they were being watched. Our normal plan of attack was to pull the wagon through town. Any who knew of us would know we were in town, and those who liked the look of virile stallions could follow just as easily.

Feather Bangs called a stop to our little parade, and we all helped set up the wagon.

There wasn't a river in sight, sadly, which meant no fun swimming. Still, Equestria was our ocean, and by the looks ponies gave us through town the fish were biting. We set the wagon wheels with chocks, then retired inside and worked on brushing our manes and primping a little.

Appleloosa was a bigger town than the fifty or so ponies that had lived there ten years previous. There had to be houses for nearly two-hundred ponies.

Feather Bangs turned and looked at us. There was pride in his eyes, and excitement. "Come my little brothers, let us find ponies and make their dreams come true."

We'd just made it to the edge of town when a stallion walked up to Feather Bangs. He wore the typical Appleloosan vest and neckerchief, had a black hat and a fantastic moustache—if you were into moustaches that is (Spike would be the dragon to see for such an example). I knew him by name, but didn't know him personally.

"Well, look who it ain't. If Ah didn't know better, Ah'd say that Ah see Feather Bangs and his boys." The stallion had the same twang to his voice that I remember hearing the last time I'd visited, but his voice was deeper (to match the gray creeping into his moustache and mane).

"Lightning Hooves. It's great to see you again." Feather Bangs tossed his mane and looked over the stallion with the kind of hunger that would put a changeling to shame.

"Ya know Ah ain't been called that since Ah got my cutie mark. Sheriff Silverstar's me name, and you know it." Sheriff Silverstar looked more amused than confused. "An' ya ain't aged one bit. Again. Do Ah even want to ask?"

"You can ask me, Sheriff, but then I'd have to eat you all up. I don't bring any feuds to your town. Again." Stepping up to Sheriff, Feather nuzzled the big, burly stallion lawpony's jaw.

Blushing, Sheriff Silverstar started to jerk back and then trembled. "Ah—Ah'll be the judge of that. Come along and you can answer a few questions." Sheriff gestured to a house. "Yer boys are free to do as they wanna, so long as it's all above board."

"Oh Sheriff, are you going to arrest me?" Feather Bangs was already trotting off at the Sheriff's side. He turned briefly to give us a wink.

"Is he really going to…?" I asked, watching Feather nuzzle and lick Sheriff whenever the big stallion wasn't looking. The two soon disappeared into a house.

"Feather has fine tastes, and Sheriff has always been lenient to us. We first met him when he was just a colt." Smooth Vibes surprised me by coming up on my flank and giving my rump a nip. I looked back at him and once again was momentarily in awe of the wings on my flank. The Apple was long gone.

"I'm hungry. Do any of you have somepony lined up?" Stereo looked around at the rest of us, then grinned wide and looked right at me. "Who is he?"

"They," I said. "And we—Glamour and me—already called dibs. There's plenty of fish in the sea tonight." I turned, ruffled my wings, and started to prance off toward the one house I knew would never belong to anypony else. Once an Apple, always an Apple.

Read Like a Book

"Don't know why, but you remind me of one'a my cousins."

Braeburn, of course, woke up just before dawn, just like any farmer. Awake and up, and boy was he up. I clenched down on his length inside me, squeezing his shaft.

It wasn't strange to wake up in the bed of a married couple, but when one was technically my cousin and the other was a former special somepony made it a little stranger. That Braeburn apparently had no trouble mounting somepony he thought reminded him of a cousin in pre-dawn light just highlighted how odd the Apple family could be.

Focusing my attention to my voice I made sure to avoid any of my usual vocal patterns. "You do this with all your cousins? Or just ponies that remind you of them?" Being a siren meant I had to act—which meant I couldn't afford to be McIntosh Apple in any way.

"If'n they asked nice. Nothing against ya, but ya got too many wings for any of my cousins." He shifted his hips, and I felt his shaft move inside me. He had been an energetic lover, if not particularly inventive.

Stretching my wings out, I gave them a little flap before just letting them lay on the bed. The first new hump caused me to gasp, then another had me groan. Braeburn was a big stallion where it counted, and when he plowed your field you knew you were being plowed.

"What's that? Cuz? Ain't got no words for me now? Yous was all silver tongued a second ago." He punctuated every third word with a shove into me.

It might have been true that I had trouble getting words out while he rutted me, but I was also too busy eating. Braeburn was so focused on me, on adoring me, that he seemed oblivious to his new bride snuggled up to Glamour Trot's penis.

Another thrust and another bite. Diverting Braeburn to adore me like he adored Marble Pie had taken some effort, but the reward was how he tasted. I arched my tail back as far as I could while he pounded me, and when it came, the feel of his hot release in my bowels made me squirm in hedonistic glee.

I felt power stir in the bed beside me, and looked over at Glamour just in time to see him boop Marble on the nose. I raised an eyebrow at him.

"Just making sure this will wear off. Much as I'd love to fit a collar to this filly and let her live attached to my dick for the rest of her life, I don't think I'd be able to break up what these two have." Glamour reached over and booped Braeburn, too.

With Braeburn on top of me—and inside me—I felt the tingle of magic through his aura. He slumped to the bed beside me, breathing deeply.

Shimmying forward, I let out a deep groan as Braeburn came out hooflength by hooflength. My legs almost folded under me when his flared head came free, but I managed to stumble only a little as I climbed off the bed. "Just sleeping?"

"This was their fantasy. They obviously role-played it together, taking turns being the mysterious stranger for the other." Glamour Trot sighed and ran his hoof along Marble's cheek. "Their adoration for us will be aimed back at each other."

"With some new kinks," I said.

Glamour laughed. "Of course! I'm sure your colt there will take every opportunity to drill his mare's ass, and she's going to suck him so much she'll take the color off his rod."

I snorted a laugh and followed Glamour Trot to the door. False dawn lit up a sliver of the horizon just above Braeburn's apple trees, which reminded me of the farm days I'd left behind. Then the sun rose—like it always did—in one quick rush. I took a step to follow Glamour, and was reminded how small my body was compared to Braeburn's shaft. "She'll only polish that if she can open her mouth like a snake."

It was Glamour's turn to laugh. "You didn't see her last night. She might not talk much, but that mare knows how to use her mouth."

"Yeah I—" I'd been looking around, casually taking in the sight of the grown town of Appleloosa, when I spied something that brought back a shot of nostalgia—the Appleloosa Library. I hadn't been a big reader until Princess Twilight Sparkle moved to Ponyville. Farming had been my life, but then a cheery and excited purple mare had invited me into her library—her home—to read.

Memories fluttered through my head. Evenings—after all the work was done for the day—spent curled up in her library. We didn't talk until after we finished our books. She'd ask me what I'd like, and I'd ask her about her own book. I knew she was reading something naughty when she blushed. I could almost taste her adoration for books, even in my memories, and shuddered in place.

"Are you alright, Sure Beat?" Glamour asked.

The name was new to me, but not so new as I didn't realize it was mine now. Sure Beat, a reference to my wings and music. "Yeah, just remembering a mare." I looked at the library still. The building was modern, made from wood, and had encouraging posters in the windows.

Glamour gasped dramatically. "A mare? Oh gosh, Sure. Where have I heard that one before?" He stopped and lifted his hoof to his chin in thought. "Why is it never about a stallion?"

"She was a princess." The words escaped my throat without my intent, but having said them I didn't regret it. Ruffling my wings, I found my hooves taking me toward the library.

"If you sing a pony song about this, I'm leaving." Glamour's tone was mock-serious, but I knew he preferred to be in control of such things. "I'm serious. No songs!" He broke into a laugh.

"I'm not going to sing about it. She was just—special."

"She was a princess? There's only been, what, six lately? You either just blushed because the Princess of Love spurned you, or Princess Twilight Sparkle put a spell on you." Leaning against me, Glamour Trot sighted along my head. "Library. That means Princess of Books. You know we made a delivery to her? When she took over that ghastly castle and had lost her old library, libraries all over Equestria sent books to her."

The story was curious, but not as curious as seeing a stallion trot up to the front door of the library and open it. I found myself walking toward the library, my ears perked and focused for any hint of sound from within.

"Sure Beat?" Glamour's voice sounded miles away. "Mac!"

My actual name, shortened as it was, finally got my attention. I turned to look back at Glamour. "Ah just want to spend the morning relaxing." In my introspective state I'd accidentally used my old voice. I cleared my throat. "Can you tell Feather where I'll be in case he needs me?"

"You're actually doing something without asking permission or being told? Good on you, brother. He might be our master, but Feather expects us to have interests." Turning around, Glamour Trot lifted his chin and looked around. "Ah, there they are. I'll see you, Sure Beat." And with that he did like his namesake.

I turned my attention back on the library and entered it. Inside was the usual setup: rows of shelving, soft couches, and a stallion standing at the counter. He had all the hallmarks of a librarian. "Hi there," I said, keeping to my Sure Beat self. "Do I need a card to read books here?"

Deep blue eyes looked up at me from beneath a serious brow. Brown fur, black mane and tail, and a horn proud on his head was the exact image of librarians all over Equestria—except for one purple alicorn. "No. If you plan to read in the library you can just find something you like." His eyes roamed for a fraction of a second before snapping back—he checked me out. "Would you like something specific?"

"Well, don't let these wings fool you, I'm quite the reader. I'd be happy with something you could suggest. Maybe a grimoire or bestiary? I love keeping abreast of the latest monsters discovered, comes in handy on the road." I decided to return the favor, and let my eyes slide down to the bench. He was typical for his kind, lacking the grand musculature of an earth pony and the upper-back development of a pegasus. Unicorns were delightful to play with, but they lacked stamina.

Something about the librarian called to my siren-self. He wanted something very badly, and I could fit the bill. He gestured to the book cart beside him. "We have the latest bestiary in. Twilight Sparkle's Surprising Suspects. I-It's the latest and most comprehensive."

When he levitated a thick book up and over to the counter, I stepped a bit closer to look at it—and him. "Any new additions? Anything particularly exciting you might suggest I investigate?" I brought my voice low, as if by speaking normally I might summon whatever nasty things Princess Twilight wrote about.

He licked his lips. "Sh-She added a—"

"Wait. Maybe we should talk about this somewhere foals wouldn't hear? Perhaps even lock the door while you read from such a disturbing tome?" I lifted just one eyebrow.

His horn energized and I heard the door lock—I didn't bother to look. He turned and—picking up the book, gestured to a room. "This is a private reading room. We won't be interrupted."

With him still looking at me I made sure to look at the door now, then back to him, and then I licked my lips. "So what is in there?" I asked.

He yelped—actually yelped—and trotted into the room. "W-Well, there is this strange creature she calls a vampony." He gulped. "A-And it drinks a pony's bloo—"

I cut him off by closing the door loudly. "A vampony you say? I think I know of them. Beautiful to a fault, mysterious, often either a new stranger in town, or somepony who has lived there for generations."

He nodded and quickly turned to face me.

I watched his throat move as he gulped. "The sunlight thing is not always right, but did it say anything about mind-control?"

His eyes flew wide as saucers, and I could hear his heart start pounding away. "M-M-Mind-control. Y-Y-Yes! But I thought the sun—"

"A master vampony need not fear the sun, but his gaze could ensnare a pony with a simple look. I bet such a vampony could make anypony do just about anything they wanted." I stepped into his personal space, then another step so that our snouts were almost touching. "Turn around."

He just stared at me, like the prey he felt himself to be before a vampony—the truth wasn't far off the mark. "Tsk, tsk, tsk," I said. "Somepony with some backbone. I'll need to use my full power." I cleared my throat and flexed my siren magic just enough to read him like a book—he was so pent up it hurt. "Tell me your name."

"B-B-But a pony's name is power in the mouth—"

"Tell me your name!" I said.

"Dewey!"

"Dewey. Oh. Such a beautiful name. But I have it now. A name freely given to a vampony puts the speaker under their power. Tell me this is so, Dewey. Tell me you are under my sway." I spent not a drop of my precious essence actually affecting his mind—that would be wrong.

Dewey nodded slowly. "Y-Yes, Master. I'm under your—your sway."

I could smell him now. A stallion always gains a certain note to his scent when aroused. He smelled of need. "Dewey, lower yourself to the floor. Put your belly on the ground before me and tell me how good a pet you'll be."

Lacking my old stature made this less than ideal—there was nothing better than a huge stallion towering over you to make you submissive. Nonetheless, Dewey folded his legs slowly. "I-I would do anything my master wishes. I would be everything he needs. Please, Master, tell me what you wish of me."

Unicorns were tricky in one regard: they have horns. I stepped forward, one of my wings reached out for him to tilt his head to the side just enough that he wouldn't impale me. "You are my pet, Dewey. By your name I bind you, by your lips I own you. Suck."

"Yes, Mast—" His words cut short by him opening his mouth for me. I shoved forward, eager as always, but I didn't try for his throat. Dewey didn't seem the kind to be ready for all of me. "Suck now, pet. Take your master and drink his seed." And like that, despite his skittishness at first, Dewey proved himself to be good at sucking dick.

I wasn't hungry, and he wasn't worked up to full adoration, but sometimes a blowjob is just a blowjob. Rocking my hips slowly, I set the pace of his work and, when the time came, I didn't hold back at all.

Fluffing my wings out, I gave them a few little flaps of excitement. I dipped my head down and ran my tongue under his tail to get a taste of Dewey's musk. "Mmm. Mine now."

Underneath me, Dewey was struggling to get all of my seed down. He whined softly after I was done in what I could only imagine was need. I opened my siren powers a sliver—he wanted more.

"On the table. On your back," I said. I used my wings to shift the book from the table. I looked around and found what I wanted—ink. While Dewey struggled to get to his hooves and onto the table, I collected the inkwell and dipped one of my lesser primary feathers into it—just the tip of course. "Now I will mark you as mine and take of your essence. Surrender yourself, Dewey."

By the time I looked he was on his back on the table, legs folded up to his belly in the cutest impression of a puppy I'd ever seen. Of course, innocent he was not. Between his back legs was a stiff shaft, not as big as Braeburn's, but plenty for a cute stallion.

I walked along the edge of the table and used my inked feather to paint meaningless runes on it. I'd read enough of Twilight's books to know they were meaningless, at least. "With each symbol I bind you, Dewey. With each mark I control you, Dewey. With each drop of ink I secure you as my pet and own you." By the time I'd circled the table and gotten back to his offered belly, I reached my feather up and drew a pattern across his balls in black ink. "Mine."

"Y-Yours, Master."

I leaned over Dewey's back legs and used my clean feathers to lift his shaft away from his belly. Again I checked with my siren senses, and again I felt a pony aching for more of what was happening. I opened my mouth and took him between my lips.

A thump heralded Dewey's head leaning back and hitting the table. He still squirmed, so I knew he hadn't knocked himself out. As I started to return the favor he'd given me minutes ago, I heard him start to moan and whimper. These were the sounds of a very happy pony getting what he wanted—such was its own kind of music.

He tasted slightly salty already, but that could have been the sweat of excitement. I used my wings to secure his rear from squirming too much while I continued to work my tongue around his shaft. Unlike Dewey's earlier efforts, I'd been practicing my style to the point where I could (and did) slide my lips down his shaft, suck his medial ring, then work my nose all the way down until it couched at the sensitive piece of skin between his penis and his belly.

I kissed Dewey's sheath, vibrated my throat a little and pulled up his length again. Dewey was crying out in passion, the odd master and please coming from him when he managed to get a word out at all. I serviced his shaft not only how I'd been trained, but with real enjoyment. There was something enjoyable about a pony having fun that made me more excited to hear his voice.

I sped up, claiming his shaft faster, restricting my lips to the length of skin between his medial ring and his sheath, and kissing the soft skin at the base of his penis with each stroke. I felt when Dewey's muscles tensed, felt when he struggled to hold onto his climax. I let go of his hip with the wing that had the inked feather and stretched it up to his nose and marked his snout with black ink.

All his muscles tensed further and I felt the moment meet him where he couldn't hold back. The taste of him was nothing new. I'd been with many stallions, and each of them tasted much the same. Location and diet were the only things that changed their taste, and then only slightly.

Dewey tasted of excitement, as all stallions do at this exact moment of their lives. I slurped and sucked on him still, even worked my tongue along the underside of his shaft while he made yet more happy sounds.

Rope after rope shot down my throat. I worked at him until I was sure he had not a drop left for me. Slowly, luxuriating in the feel and taste of Dewey, I drew off his shaft and tilted my head to look along his body toward his head.

"Y-You're not a vampony, are you?" he asked, his barrel working for breath.

"I'm whatever you want me to be. Any more big-bads in that book you'd like? Maybe a incupony? A siren?" I watched him nod vaguely as I spoke.

Worry, panic, and confusion warred for a moment and settled into a relaxed smile. "You've read that book."

It wasn't a question, but I nodded. "I met the writer. I've even sat in her library and read books with her—though not quite as energetically as this."

"W-What about a timber wolf?"

I thought about it for a moment. "A big beast that claims a pony's mouth as the home for its new seed of life? I think I can manage that. There's going to be growling."

"Awesome!"

Rode Hard, Put Away Wet

"You didn't feed off him." Feather Bangs seemed to come out of nowhere as I left the library. He fell in beside me and walked close enough that my wings sometimes brushed his side.

I shook my head and kept walking. "He didn't adore me." It was a simple answer to a question that hadn't been asked. The more time I spent around different ponies, the more I realized everypony had these unasked questions that were implied by what they say, but I only felt obliged to answer Feather's.

Feather Bangs tossed his mane to the side as he turned his head to look at me. "But you still had fun with him?"

Nothing could have made my smile widen as much as remembering the fun we'd had. "Yeah." Just a few years ago I would have said eeyup, but that wasn't how Sure Beat spoke, and it wasn't really how I speak. "Good fun."

Soft lips touched my cheek, and I couldn't help but savor the moment. "I was worried, Sure Beat, that you saw the life of a siren as a career. I've never had one of my fish take so long to open up. Do you have a preference for stallions?"

I hadn't thought about it before. Stallions had a lot of fun things about them, but mares were soft in ways that were sometimes nice. We walked halfway through town before I put enough of my thoughts together to answer. "I like stallions more, but mare's are still nice."

"An omnivore. Good. Where do you think we should go next?" Feather Bangs asked.

I was harnessed to the wagon and pulled it with ease. Slim and sleek, I was a creature of the air in appearance only—appearances can be deceiving. Twenty-three years growing into my siren body had boosted my physical strength beyond what my pony body—the real one and not my disguise—once carried.

Something about the pretty countryside tickled my memory. I knew this place, but couldn't pin down where in our travels I had seen it before. But it didn't matter. Feather Bangs had us headed for a town. We would feast, have fun, and move on when things seemed right.

"Sure Beat's going to find the librarian again, I will put bits on it," Stereo Mix said.

"Bet on it? No way." Glamour Trot shook his head sadly. "Sure can sniff out books better than anypony, and where there's books there's a librarian. What do you say, Sure Beat?"

Picking up on my brother's cue I lifted my nose and closed my eyes. One sniff. Two sniffs. "Smells like a mare." Three sniffs. "She's cute, no novice, but I think I have some tricks to teach her." It was a safe bet to say a librarian would be a mare. Despite my delight at playing with other stallions, the majority of librarians were mares—this is a survey I had been careful to be extremely thorough about.

Smooth Vibes looked at me with actual surprise on his face. "You can't actually tell that, can you? Is that your siren power coming through?"

Turning to look at Smooth, I sniffed just once. "Do you like books, Smooth?"

Eyes widening for a moment, Smooth Vibes didn't catch on until I waggled my own eyes back. "You naughty stallion." He trotted right up beside me and kissed my cheek. "No hard feelings, though. You're too tasty to be mad at." Which was Smooth's way of saying he wanted to eat my ass out tonight.

I wasn't opposed to the idea, of course, his tongue was amazing. I realized that in my sniffing I'd gotten another hint that I'd been here before. I inhaled again, deeper, and caught the scent of flowers spilling their pollen to the breeze. Not only did I know that it was pollen, but I knew what trees they were: pomes.

"No. But seriously. Can you really smell things that well?" Smooth Vibes asked.

Another deep breath, still walking forward with the wagon rolling behind me, and I could tell exactly what they were. "Apples. Just before the growing season. Reminds me of—" The bottom dropped out of the world. Though my legs still moved, I knew where we were.

As if the world was one big gag cued up for me, we rounded a corner and I could see Ponyville laid out before me, and in the distance was a huge castle.

"You knew we'd end up here eventually, Sure Beat." Feather Bangs' voice came from right beside me—opposite Smooth Vibes. "We've passed Ponyville six times since you've been with us. It was time we made ourselves acquainted with some of the wonderful, tasty ponies here."

I looked at the town, really looked, and could see a lot more of it than before I'd left. The town of Ponyville looked about thirty-percent bigger. I wasn't completely unknowledgeable—judging the size of a town and how long it was safe to stay there was a skill I'd been learning from a master at it. Thirty percent increase in physical size could well amount to a few hundred percent increase in population. Size and area were wildly related.

"It's bigger than when I left," I said.

Feather Bangs raised an eyebrow and looked at me. "How much bigger? Some numbers, my fish."

"When I left the population was counted at three-thousand-eight-hundred, or so—I read that in the town's census. Given the growth size I would put the population now at being closer to eight-thousand," I said.

Nodding, Feather Bangs tilted his head to the side. "And how long does that give us?"

"If we are careful, up to two months. However, there might be a Royal Guard outpost here now, with Princess Twilight's Castle being here." I squinted at the towering edifice, but we weren't close enough for me to spot anypony around it. "And if Princess Twilight Sparkle gets wind of us, we need to be gone as soon as possible—yesterday would be a good bet."

"Good. If the worst happens, you all split up and we meet in Neighagra Falls at Ms Salts' spa. This town is both important and burgeoning, we could feed as well here as in Canterlot." Feather closed his mouth and just pointed ahead.

"Market day," I said.

As we neared the outer limits of Ponyville, the sounds of a bustling town set our ears twitching. But being what we were, it wasn't just our sense of hearing that was roused by so many ponies. Feather, Stereo, Glamour, and Smooth moved through the crowd like sharks—which was not far from the truth. I was still stuck pulling the wagon, though they never drifted far from it.

Ponies I knew were dotted among the crowd—most were behind stalls selling things.

"Hey there. You picked a good day to walk into town."

I snapped my head around to see who'd called out to me, only to see Carrot Cake stepping closer. He was a tall stallion, but it was all leg. His amber coat and orange mane gave him a somewhat fiery appearance, though his namesake was apt. Carrot Cake was a baker of some of the best food in all Equestria.

"I did? It all seems so busy," I said.

Walking along, I made a point of actually looking along his body and admiring his movement, as opposed to my covert evaluation.

"Well, sure it's all busy here, but Ponyville has a lot more to offer than just the market." While he spoke, Carrot's eyes wandered over my body, and I could feel them linger in all the inappropriate places to be caught staring. "Come on this way. I can show you a good spot for your wagon and I can show you the sights."

Something was completely wrong about the situation. I was meant to be the predator, hunting out vulnerable ponies to feed on, but I'd barely done a thing—Carrot Cake was coming on to me, checking me out.

Was it a ruse? Had somepony found out about the group of sirens feeding off Equestria like a wandering tick? Part of me, the tiny part that was still a pony, almost wanted it to be true.

The wagon was barely anything, weight wise. I wasn't as strong as I used to be—I was stronger now. "Sir. You aren't trying to pry me away from my friends, are you?" Unconsciously, I put a little more sway in my hips.

Carrot Cake's eyes strayed to the side, and he spent at least fifteen seconds watching me. If he was trying to make himself bait for a siren, he was doing an excellent job of it.

"You don't seem to need much prying," Carrot Cake said. "Besides, your friends look busy."

He pointed toward Stereo Mix, who had Derpy Hooves on one side of him and Cheerilee on the other. Though I could see him talking to both, Derpy seemed to be talking the most.

Glamour Trot and Smooth Vibes had their own little circle of ponies they were talking with, and off to one side was Feather Bangs. Our eyes met, and he gave me the slightest of nods.

That settled it. There was still something that I wasn't sure of, and that Cup Cake. But the way Carrot was acting proved that he definitely didn't see any problem. For a moment I wondered how Carrot knew my brothers were with me, then it hit me—despite Ponyville growing, five strangers arriving was still unique.

"So where are we headed?" I asked.

"I thought you could put your wagon behind my shop until you find somewhere more fitting. Cute stallion like yourself shouldn't be hauling it all over town." Carrot was leading the way, I realized, for Sugarcube Corner.

Extending my senses—non invasively—I tried to take a measure of what he wanted. The answer was it's complicated. He wanted me, that was easy to understand, he wanted me the way a librarian wants a book. He wanted to own me and know everything about me. It was heady stuff, practically already adoration.

I leaned a little more firmly into the wagon's main belt, showing that I was having trouble pulling the thing—though I wasn't. "That—That'd be nice. I could use a little break from hauling this lump around."

When Carrot moved, he didn't move fast, but he had the implacable sense of force that all earth ponies had. He stepped over me, turned his head to the side and clamped his teeth to one of the poles of the wagon. Then he pulled.

He didn't say anything—not with his mouth full—but actions spoke far louder than his words could. What he was doing was showing me I wasn't up to the task, that I was too weak and small to be pulling the big wagon. By the time he stopped pulling, the wagon was beside Sugarcube Corner.

Not moving, Carrot Cake stood over me, and it didn't take much work to increase my breathing and shiver. "S-S-Sir?" I asked.

He held the position a moment longer before stepping away. "That's a good start. Why don't you come inside?" He turned around, turned his back to me, and walked in the back door of Sugarcube Corner.

A pony who wasn't turned on by his display of dominance would have beat a path out of there. Instead, I made sure to fit some chocks under the wheels of the wagon, turned toward Sugarcube Corner, and walked in the back door.

Carrot'd been waiting beside the door. He moved fast, and although my reflexes would have let me stop him, the soup of deliciousness gathering around the stallion urged me to hold still while he wrapped the collar around my neck.

I gasped the moment he finished fastening the collar in place and reached a hoof up to feel it. The collar was not for show, but it wasn't the huge, timber wolf style thing I normally liked to use on ponies.

"Got you now. Let's get you cleaned up so I can have a proper look at what I've gotten." Hooking the collar with one hoof, Carrot Cake pulled me toward the stairs. I resisted—he wouldn't want me not to—but not so much that he couldn't force me upstairs.

I was unceremoniously dumped in the bathtub, and Carrot practically took over everything. My size was such that to a big earth pony I wouldn't be too much to handle. But I wasn't what I seemed. "Why'd you approach me?"

Carrot's eyebrow rose. "You looked hungry and bored. I like playing around with stallions who are—smaller. Tell me no at any time, and we stop. Some things may become a little odd, but I promise you that it is all for the fun of it. Now tilt your head forward for me."

His tone changed in that last sentence—growing more domineering again. A shudder ran through me as his desire made him want me more. I did exactly as he asked, leaning forward and angling my head while Carrot Cake washed my mane.

Carrot's attention wasn't like Bath Salts'. When Carrot scrubbed and washed, it was with the determination of a parent whose foal had discovered fur to be an excellent chocolate storage device. When he was done with me, I was clean—if nothing else.

With the application of some towels, Carrot had me dried off. I wondered if it was all going to be like this—if he was simply into treating me as a colt—but I opened my senses to him and felt at once possessed. His aura dripped with domination, control, and pure ownership. Almost salivating at the desire in his aura, I gave the slightest push to his focus.

Adoration wasn't always the natural emotion somepony felt for another, but when I gave him the spark, Carrot Cake adored me. He adored owning me. He adored controlling me. Soon he would adore everything about me. "On your back," he said.

It was a simple enough command, and though I showed a little careful resistance at first, I did drop to my belly and then rolled to my back. It felt good to show him my belly—because it caused his adoration to flare brighter—but with my head tilted back I didn't see the thing he brought down and wrapped around my penis, but I did hear the click as it was locked in place.

"You don't get to do anything unless I let you. Understand?"

I nodded. It was the right thing to do—I knew from experience—because he hadn't let me speak.

"Good boy. If you're really good, I might take that off later." Carrot's hoof found a grip on my collar and hauled me to my hooves. Pulling me along, he led the way to the master bedroom.

Each step was strange. The thing clamped around my cock, where it looped around my heavy balls, seemed to shift just a little. I was growing hard, pushing into the restraint, but it suddenly held tight. My cock was only barely out of my sheath, barely in the grip of the device, and there was no more give in it. I whined.

Carrot tugged me around the room and before one of the dressers. "You'll get used to it, pup. Over here." He pulled me out of the way as he opened the doors.

We had a selection of sexual and bondage toys in our wagon. We had plugs and dildos, straps and bridles, but what Carrot cake had in that cabinet was a cornucopia of equipment. Bridles, various bits, more of the things that he'd clamped around my shaft, other things that looked like they would clamp over a mare's entrance.

Lifting out a pair of hobbles, Carrot wasted no time in locking one back leg in a cuff. They looked real, they sounded real, but they were toys. I figured they'd give if I tested them—and as a siren I could test them.

My next surprise came when he forced my back legs wider, then clamped the other cuff on. I tried to close my legs then, and realized the cuffs wouldn't let me.

"Exposed, pup? Any time I want to show you how much I own you, I will. How long until your friends come looking for you?" Carrot asked.

I let him lock the cuffs on my forelegs before replying. "T-T-Tomorrow."

His hoof grabbed my tail and lifted. My gasp and squeak of shock only fueled his adoration, causing it to tumble down like rain around me. I let him possess me, because he would let me feed. He wrapped my tail with something—I just stared ahead now—and then fastened that to the back of my collar.

"Not too tight, pup?"

I shook my head. It was tight, and I felt so exposed I wanted to rip free of my bindings, but with each thing he put on me the meal only grew.

Wrappings covered my wings, securing them down. Carrot was thorough in his work. But, when I felt his hoof rub under my tail, I knew what was coming.

He pushed his hoof at my ass, teasing my anus with his touch, and rubbing something all over me. Lubricant. He was preparing me for the main event.

Letting loose soft whines, I arched my spine and pushed back into the massage. His hoof explored further, even pushing into me a little to ensure the slick stuff was within me.

"I might have to buy you from your friends." Carrot Cake's hoof left me. His adoration was almost at what I assumed was its peak. He stepped forward and pressed himself to my rear.

Pressure, stretching—he was a big stallion. I whimpered and shivered as he pushed inward slowly. A stallion's first time would be a little painful, so I even put in some short-sharp gasps. This was far from my first time under a stallion, though.

With each shove of his hips, Carrot pushed more of him inside me. My body was built to accommodate, and accommodate it did. Carrot didn't have to stop until his groin was pressed to my ass.

This was it, the big moment. We weren't even an hour into the fun yet and he was already prepared to feed me as much as he could. Carrot pulled back, earning a sigh from me, then he shoved himself home again. It felt good, really good.

Each thrust made the siren in me delay my feeding a little more. I wanted to time things perfectly, get him climaxing just as I started to feed. Carrot's tempo built, and my own desire rose to meet him. I tilted my head back and looked up at the tornado of adoration, ready to start feeding.

"What are you doing?!" Cup Cake asked. Her voice was shrill, demanding, and I could hear her hooves stomp across the floor behind me. "You dirty stallion. Behind my back and with what, this slutty little stallion?"

Carrot stopped thrusting, and it was the worst kind of agony for me. "C-C-Cup? My little—"

I looked upward at Carrot's aura, and found all the adoration had shifted. He no longer desired me, instead wanting his wife.

"No. No little platitudes are going to solve this. Get on the bed and get on your back!" Cup Cake walked around me and grabbed something from the dresser. I never saw what it was, but I could take a guess when the flogger hit my rear. "And you! You will wait right there. I'm not done with you!"

Her tone shifted as she spoke to me. Less fire and brimstone, more demanding domm. It was a confusing transition, but the sting of the flogger came again, pulling me out of my focus.

"You will answer me, pup! Will you be good and wait here?" Cup Cake asked.

I nodded my head. "Y-Yes ma'am!"

The flog was back, but it was a gentle running of the handle across one ass-cheek, and then a feeling of fullness once more. I realized what she'd done when I felt the flog's strands hanging around the back of my legs—she'd shoved it into me!

Cup Cake's attention was back to her husband, and she climbed onto the bed with determined and sure steps. My meal was gone, completely stolen by the dominant mare, and all I could do was watch.

Inspiration finally hit me. She wasn't actually mad at me, she wasn't even mad at Carrot. This was a game, and this was a pair of ponies who needed a third party to participate in it.

While Cup stepped over Carrot, I watched her turn to look at me. Eye contact, and a trickle of adoration was my reward for doing as instructed. The beast inside me—now—was ravenous. It latched onto the trickle of adoration and suckled from it.

"You are going to repeat after me, Carrot. 'I will not bring sluts home and fuck them without my wife's permission.' Say it."

"I-I will not bring—bring sluts home and fu—" Carrot's voice gave out as his wife slid her body down his shaft. His eyes closed, his head tilted back, and he made a soft sound in the back of his throat. "… f-f-fuck them without my wife's permission."

"Again." Cup Cake started rocking her body slowly. Each little glance to me encouraged my inner siren on, and I had to agree that what she fed me was ambrosia. Cup Cake was an exhibitionist of the highest order, and her knowing I was bound and helpless to do anything but watch her punish her husband turned her on—made her more possessive of Carrot and me.

I shivered with each shift of her hips, and I strained inside the cage Carrot had fitted to me.

"I will not bring sluts home and fuck them without my wife's permission," Carrot Cake said. There was no adoration for me anymore, it all went to his wife.

"Again."

Over and over, Cup Cake mated with her husband, brought him to excruciating orgasm each time, then she started over. She made him repeat the chant, and kept turning to look at me each time Carrot said the word sluts, and each look fed me the precious adoration I needed.

By the time she seemed done with her husband, Cup Cake climbed off the bed and let him flop weakly to the side. "A useless husband. I'll punish you more later." Then her head turned to me. "And what to do with you? You have been good, despite Carrot's transgressions. Would you like something?"

Anything but nodding my head was out of the question. I nodded eagerly, my hunger leading my will at this point.

Cup Cake walked to the dresser and lifted out a contraption of straps that sported a large dildo. While I watched, she belted it around her waist, and between her back legs. She turned to face me, and fed me more.

I whined like the pup they'd both called me. Shuffling, I managed to turn around so my rear was to her.

Adoration flowed into me, my nature having latched onto Cup firmly enough now that she couldn't stop feeding me. She was a powerful mare, an earth pony, and she would easily stand up against the amount I was draining from her.

The feeling when she pulled out the flog handle was an aching emptiness that rivaled my hunger. I didn't care that it was just a toy, I wanted her to mount me and feed me properly.

When her hoof felt under me and checked the cage around my shaft, Cup gave it a little shake. More whines issued from my throat. I couldn't help but surrender to her game because she played it so well—she played me so well.

I was a siren, a monster that fed on ponies and bent them to my will, and right then I was completely the opposite.

Cup Cake landed on my back and shoved forward smoothly. She wasn't a stallion overtaken with lust, she only fed the oversize toy into me when she was ready—though it slid in easily enough.

A sigh of relief came from me. As Cup Cake rammed the toy home, I felt complete again. Her hips were rounded, looking soft, but she had a core of muscle that drove me to the floor again and again, pinned me in place, and stirred my desire.

Each thrust into my rear was better than the last, but it wasn't until she tilted her hips that the toy inside me struck something that turned my world white. Pleasure lanced through me. My restrained penis jumped and trembled in its cage, and suddenly began leaking. The climax was something different than normal, something that was both restrained and free. I made all the soft and needy sounds I could, and Cup just held still above me while I continued to feed on the trickle of adoration.

"Good pup. See? You get a reward when Mistress is done with her naughty stallion."

I could only nod as the mess I'd made started to soak into my fur. The feeling of emptiness was back when Cup dismounted, but she shoved the handle back into me. I managed only a little whine before she pulled something over my head, too.

"Sleep, pup. I might use you again later."

There was nothing I wanted more, at that moment, than to be used again later. I did as she commanded, lowered myself fully into the mess, and tried to sleep.

Bit By Bit

I woke to the feeling of water cascading over my fur and a soft brush working through it. For a siren, water always had a reviving effect. Lifting my head, I was rewarded with a gentle ear-rub.

"Awake, are we? Sorry about last night, when I saw my husband with you I just—I got all carried away." The voice belonged to Cup Cake, who was scrubbing my fur and giving me the best ear rub ever. "I figured a bath was the least I could do after that."

It had all been a game I realized, and if not exactly planned, then definitely something each expected to happen. Sure, I should have assumed the ponies of Ponyville could be just as kinky and naughty as ponies everywhere else, but to find out the nice couple you'd known for years were into dominance games and bondage was definitely shocking.

I yawned and rolled my shoulders, and when her hooves found one of my wings I froze up. Careful attention was paid to the limb, and though I knew Cup and Carrot weren't pegasi, their son was. "Where'd you learn about wings?" I asked.

"My little colt's a pegasus. I had to learn about wing care to take care of his." She didn't seem inclined to preen my wing, rather she used her hoof to gently brush each feather straight. By the time she was done with both wings, I was almost ready to move in. "My little colt got that same look."

It wasn't a sexual feeling, more just extremely relaxing. I tried to get out of the tub, but Cup defied my light protest firmly. She scrubbed down my fur and tail, then washed my mane and face. In a manner only a mother could, she rolled me over and washed my belly, barrel, and sheath with equal care and no sign that any of it was sexual.

When she told me to stand, I stood. Warm towels worked over me, guided by expert hooves. "You've been pampered before, haven't you—" Cup Cake gasped. "I believe we haven't actually introduced ourselves. Cup Cake."

I had to smile at the silly vagaries of our social situation. "Sure Beat." It didn't even feel like a lie to say it anymore. I was as much McIntosh Apple as I was a pony—less so.

"Well, Sure Beat, I think you've been to a spa or two before. A pony reacts different to being washed when they've learned to enjoy it."

The moment I judged myself dry, I acted. With the speed and strength of the predator I was, I overwhelmed any attempt by Cup Cake to stop me and switched places with her. Overpowering an earth pony was no simple task, and I could see by her look of shock that she hadn't expected it, but when my hooves found her shoulders and started rubbing, Cup Cake was defeated utterly.

"I'm not just used to going to a spa. I worked in one," I said.

"Ohhhh…" Cup Cake's eyes closed and I could see tension melting out of her. "You don't have to."

I could have feasted on her, devoured the adoration that was pouring off Cup Cake, but I'd already fed from her, and Feather had been explicit with his rules. So I gave Cup the best treatment I could and massaged her down, then rinsed her fur, washed it, then rinsed it again. I spent what felt like an hour brushing out her lovely tail and mane, and only when she was completely dry did I offer her a hoof to help her out of the tub.

"You could make a lot of bits doing this," Cup Cake said.

I just shrugged my shoulders. Bits weren't all that important when I was a farmer, and they weren't important to me now.

Looking over Cup Cake now it was almost impossible to see the dominatrix that had trained me to her service the previous night. Ponies were sometimes so much more complicated than a first glance would reveal.

"Having a young stallion look at me with that kind of hunger in his eyes is almost as good as the pampering." Cup reached out and ran her hoof under my chin. "What are you doing tonight?"

And there was the rub. I wasn't full—my gem wasn't charged completely—which meant I needed to hunt again tonight. "Finding somepony and making their dreams come true."

"It's like that? One night only?" Disappointment was clear in Cup Cake's voice.

The truth was I'd love nothing more than to meet all her desires for our time in Ponyville, but the kind of predator I was would not allow that. I needed food. "Give me two days and I'll come back and be your little toy for a night."

Cup's eyes brightened and she smiled. "Not just mine. Sometimes Carrot likes to take charge."

"I noticed. He can play too. Could I bring a friend?" My words elicited a surprised gasp from Cup. "Is that a yes or a no?"

"Yes, but…" Cup Cake trailed off, and if she were a younger mare I would have imagined her hoof would be getting nibbled at nervously.

"But what?" I asked.

"We've both talked about bottoming. Having the tables turned during our little games and having everything taken from us." Cup bit her lower lip nervously.

"If one of my brothers wants to play, I am sure we can arrange something. If not, I could forgo my submissive desires for one night." I nuzzled at Cup's ear, then bit it just enough that she knew I had some sharp teeth.

Cup Cake shivered, and the monster inside me shook with excitement. I held her ear a little longer, then released it slowly. "You better believe I'll be back to claim you and your stallion."

The shudder that ran down Cup's back reassured me that she was definitely into what I was putting out. She shook her head as if to clear the effect I'd just had on her. "Y-Yes. O-O-Of course. Would you like some brunch, Sure?"

"Only if I can take enough for my brothers." I followed her downstairs to the kitchen of Sugarcube Corner.

The smell of baking goods assaulted my nose. To one side, Pinkie Pie was applying icing to a batch of cupcakes, while a unicorn mare worked on lifting another tray free from the oven with her magic.

The unicorn turned around when Cup's hooves made some noise on the floor, and her face lit up. "Mom! Wow, you look great!"

Cup Cake's eyes drifted to me. "Oh, indeed! Sure Beat here offered to give me a home spa treatment in payment for some things. What were you after again, Sure?"

She was smooth as silk, but then I was sure Cup wouldn't want to tell her daughter she'd just had sex with a stallion other than her husband, and propositioned more. "Oh! Uh, there's five of us. Just something sweet would be great."

"You should charge bits for it. We have a spa in town, but there's the problem of setting aside time for it, and going down there. Pampering is nice, but convenience should be worth more than a few cupcakes," Cup's daughter said.

"Really," I said. "It's fine. I enjoy the work, and I just like to see ponies happy."

"Maybe I should have a treatment too? Maybe that will perk me up?"

Cup Cake looked like she was about to explode. "Pumpkin, dear, Sure Beat is probably far too busy to—"

Pumpkin Cake. I'd been in Ponyville when she and her brother Pound Cake were born. They'd been tiny foals even when I'd last seen Ponyville, but now. The beast within stirred—hungry. I looked at Cup to gauge her feelings, and while she looked shocked, I could probably have gotten away with offering Pumpkin my treatment, but that would probably have been the end of my chances with the older mare.

"Maybe another time? I need to go meet up with my brothers and look for some actual work." As I spoke—as the words became clear to Cup—I could see utter relief on the mother's face.

"If you need work," the voice was unmistakable—Pinkie Pie, "You could always see my friends. Rarity was saying just the other day that,"—Pinkie somehow managed to reshape her mane and tail into an exact copy of Rarity's—"I need a model for some outfits. Can't any of you spare some time?"

I watched Pinkie's mane and tail pop back into shape a moment later. "Wh-Where would I find her?" She was probably the most dangerous pony to interact with in all of Equestria, excluding the princesses. Pinkie Pie's feats of intuition were legendary, but from what I knew of her she only really intervened if something bad was going to happen. For the meal Cup had given me, for what we'd done, I certainly wouldn't have called it bad.

Pinkie Pie blinked in surprise, then narrowed her eyes. "I'm pretty sure you know where Carousel Boutique is." She brightened a moment later and propelled something pink toward me at great speed.

I was doomed. Nothing could move faster than Pinkie Pie when she was in the zone, and just as I tried to shout in panic, a wonderful, rich flavor hit my tongue.

"You looked hungry. How's that?" Pinkie Pie asked.

Chewing the apple and cinnamon cupcake with a zesty strawberry icing, I almost melted onto the floor. There was cooking, and then there was Pinkie Pie's cooking. "Itff wodefuf," I said. And, of course, it was.

"Here you go, dear. There's two cupcakes for each of you, and some apple strudel to share as well. Just remember what we talked about, alright?" Cup seemed in a rush, and her expression spoke of a desire to have me out of the kitchen before I changed my mind.

I wasn't exactly opposed to Pumpkin Cake, she definitely looked like she knew her way around, but I was in Cup Cake's home, and that still mattered to me. "Absolutely, ma'am!" Tucking a bag of treats under each wing, I headed out the door leading to the shop floor.

The smell of cooking was replaced with the smell of cooked. I smiled at Carrot Cake behind the counter, and got a big smile and a wave back.

"Why, hello there."

For a moment I had to wonder if Pinkie Pie had tipped the scales of fate for this moment. I turned from making eyes at Carrot to look at Rarity. She wasn't just a beautiful mare, she was desirable. I found myself almost salivating at her mane and tail, and her pristine fur was the mark of somepony who spent serious time every day and every moment to ensure it remained so. "Hi!"

"I don't suppose you are free right now? It's just you're the perfect build for me to test something out on. I have this dress, and it would suit you just—" Rarity shook her head. "Oh dear. Whatever got into me? My name's Rarity."

I took the offered hoof and kissed the top of it with every sign that I knew what I was doing. "Sure Beat, ma'am. One of your friends said you were looking for a pony to do some work for you?"

Perfectly defined and full lashes fluttered in surprise at my statement. "Oh? Which darling pony pointed you my way?" Rarity asked.

"Pinkie Pie, actually. If you'll give me a chance to take these goodies to my brothers, I'll come and visit you when I'm done?" It was hard for me to keep my tone even. Rarity made eyes at me or I wasn't a siren. She looked as hungry as I felt, and I had a good idea that although dressing up would be involved, her job would involve more than just clothing.

"Oh. That will be perfect. I won't be long here, and then I'm heading back to my boutique. You know where it is?" More fluttering eyelashes from Rarity and I would be following her around like a lost puppy. When I nodded, I got an amazing smile from her. "Perfect, darling. I'll see you then."

In a daze, I turned for the door again and this time managed to get outside. The fresh air that filled my lungs had me buzzing with excitement. With hooves that felt as light as feathers, I trotted back to the wagon to find my brothers.

The wagon had been moved since I'd parked it, and I had to reach out with my siren senses to find my brothers. I was connected to Feather Bangs, Stereo Mix, Glamour Trot, and Smooth Vibes most firmly in a bond that defied distance. I smiled at the feel of them close by.

Trotting, I spotted the wagon on the edge of town as I got closer, and made a bee-line for it.

"Well, look who comes home after spending the night making so much noise none of us could sleep," Smooth Vibes said from where he lay beside the wagon. He was at full stretch, and there was a mare carefully brushing his mane. "Not that sleeping was going to happen last night, right Scootaloo?"

The coloring of the mare sank in. I stared at the friend of my little sister. Scootaloo was truly a mare now, without a hint of the attributes that had made her a filly when I was living in Ponyville. Her wings were sleek and folded at her side, and she made a happy laugh at Smooth's joke that made sure that I knew who he'd been not sleeping with. That her tail was arched a little more than a normal mare would gave it away. "Yeah. You want some more fun tonight?"

Smooth looked up at me with knowing eyes. "What about it, Sure Beat? Want to help me take this mare for round two?"

"I'm hungry and taken." I closed the distance and reached under one wing with a hoof. "But if you're hungry, and can appreciate something tangible, I brought brunch with me." I passed a cupcake to Smooth and one to Scootaloo.

Scootaloo looked me up and down, her eyes fixing on my wings. "You get these from Sugarcube Corner?" At my nod, she took a bite from hers. "Mmm. Pinkie Pie specials. You can't beat them in all Equestria. You wanna fuck?"

The question almost stole my breath away. I turned to look at Smooth for an answer.

"Glamour had some fun with her. We're not allowed to let her out of our sight until it's worn off. The usual," Smooth Vibes said. "I have fed already." The significance of Smooth's words was clear—Scootaloo wasn't to be fed from.

Not particularly in the mood for sex for sex's sake—I was still hungry—I shook my head. "Sorry. Already got a date lined up."

"Ooooh. Who're you banging?" Scootaloo asked while her hoof began working the brush through Smooth's mane again.

"A gentlecolt doesn't say. Can you two make sure the others get these? I have a mare to see to." I turned, leaving Scootaloo to whatever fate she'd already walked into, and set out in search of Carousel Boutique.

Walking aimlessly toward the center of town, I ran into Rarity's home/workplace more by coincidence than according to plan. Each step I'd taken made me think more about what we were doing. Scootaloo definitely wasn't going to be harmed by Smooth or Glamour's attentions, but by Smooth's admission Glamour had lowered her inhibitions.

Even knowing that my brothers wouldn't have acted on anything she didn't want them to do didn't make me feel better about it.

"Fancy meeting you here," Rarity said. Standing at the front door of her shop, casting me an appraising look, she raised a single perfect eyebrow. "Is something the matter?"

I sighed. "Life's complicated."

"Well, of course it is. Come inside and let it be uncomplicated for just a bit." Rarity's words sounded like an offer of great proportions. Not for the first time was I surprised at how readily ponies would accept me. Shouldn't self preservation stop this?

The hunger gnawing away at my insides made me follow her inside. Rarity's shop was amazing. Dresses were everywhere, paraded by ponequins, and covered every color of the rainbow (sometimes all on one dress).

"I met somepony I knew when they were—well—much younger. They were involved with a friend." The words spilled out. I couldn't stop them and, when Rarity turned to look at me, I felt like I'd spill everything. I'm a siren, Rarity. I'm a monster that feeds on pony emotions and plays them like a cat with a mouse.

"I have a little sister, Sure Beat, who found herself a stallion several times that I wouldn't want her spending time with. No matter what I did, all I could think of was the little filly I'd helped Mom and Dad raise. She's a professor at Princess Celestia's school in Canterlot. She's married, and she has a foal on the way." As Rarity spoke, I knew who she was talking about—Sweetie Belle. "And you know, when I look at her, I see my little sister as a filly still."

The revelation about another of Apple Bloom's friends was startling. They weren't just grown mares, they were starting families. "What do you do?"

"Smile. Congratulate her. Suck it up and be her big sister and her friend." Rarity walked toward me with a tape measure and intent in her eyes. "Let me have a proper look at you."

I spread my wings when she asked, I lifted my legs when commanded, and all through the experience I was measured and quantified. For the briefest moment I pondered revealing my full self to her just to see what she'd say.

"You're absolutely perfect to model this." Rarity stepped back and gestured to a curtain her magic was slowly drawing back. "Which is perfect, because I need somepony to show me how their legs move in it."

A wedding dress. It was pure white (a bit of a stretch considering my lifestyle) and all kinds of flowing and billowing fabric. My days of cross-dressing as an earth pony might have been long behind me, but I still had that itch to look pretty. "It's beautiful."

The process of dressing in such an outfit wasn't fast. Even with Rarity's magic assisting, it took nearly half an hour to get the skirts, the dress, the veil, and the special wing supports on. Rarity had done one thing intentionally, I'd noticed, she'd kept me from looking in a mirror.

"Now, darling, please walk for me," Rarity said.

The command was one I'd gladly follow. Lifting a forehoof, I took a step, then another, and my body followed the motion. The dress tugged at my waist, sat heavy on my hips, and when she guided me past a mirror I froze at the mare looking back. "It's amazing."

"I know, darling. Please keep moving, you'll have time to admire it more in a moment."

She had me walk, trot, and even build into a slow canter. The dress moved like it was made just for me. Each step was accompanied by the soft whisper of the fabric, and I was so taken by it that I didn't even recognize what Rarity was doing until the flash went off.

I faltered in my canter and dropped to a walk.

"Keep going, dear. I want more shots. Back down to a trot."

I bobbed my head and built my gait back to a trot. The camera flashed over and over, and without realizing it I was posing for the shots. I could have fed on Rarity right then. I could have drained her of the adoration of me in the dress, showing myself off for her, and I would have been content.

This was Rarity, however. Rarity was not a mare you skip if she has already extended a proposition.

Thread By Thread

"You move like a dancer, darling. Like an athlete who knows exactly how they're moving and what it does to their clothing and the hearts of those watching." Rarity's eyes blinked slowly, as if she were giving me the chance, between those soft lashes closing and opening agan, to run away. "It makes one wonder how else you could move."

Stretching, I arched my spine and let my back legs drag a little as I pulled forward. I didn't look at Rarity as I did it, but I could feel her eyes on me. When she didn't say a word, I kept going. I finished my stretched, then stepped out of the pose into a prancing trot. "Do you stare at stallions often?"

"Only when they're fabulous. You've worn dresses before," Rarity said—it wasn't a question.

In every dream and fantasy since I was a colt. I didn't say the words out loud, what I said instead was, "Perhaps once or twice. Is there something you think would look better on me?" As soon as I asked a torrent of desire and lust washed over me from Rarity. Who would have thought asking the top fashion designer in all Equestria to play dress-ups would have been a turn-on for her?

I kept up my prance as Rarity rushed to ponequin wearing an immaculate dress. Her magic disengaged the fasteners and lifted it free in short order. I drew to a halt right beside Rarity and struck a pose just like a ponequin.

"Hardly required, but it is appreciated. There's a reason they are posed like that—it shows off the outfits delightfully, but also makes changing them easier." I felt as she began unfastening the dress I was in.

Devouring her would have been easy. It would have been efficient, but Feather had taught me nothing if not to appreciate everything in life, not just to get by on feeding. Fluffing my wings once she had the first dress off me, I had to focus on what was happening—Rarity was dressing me up in beautiful dresses, and they fit me perfectly. "Are you sure you want to put another dress on me?"

Raising one eyebrow, Rarity paused before putting the dress over me. "I'm sure I have no idea what you mean. Dressing in style is its own reward. I might—" She hesitated. "I might appreciate your form, but there's always something more that fine clothing can do."

I stood still for her, let her fasten every button, zipper, and ribbon on me. At last, I saw her step back and float a mirror over. The pony looking back at me wasn't a mare. He was still very much a stallion, but the dress on him looked amazing. I couldn't help myself—while Rarity held the mirror with her magic, I pranced some more.

"If I didn't know better, I'd say you're just as vain as I am. Do you really enjoy watching yourself move in dresses?" Rarity asked.

Mid prance, I turned my attention from the pony in the mirror to Rarity. "Don't you?"

We both smiled—the answer was obvious to both of us.

"Well?" I asked.

"Hrmm?"

I focused my eyes on hers, looked past those long lashes at the brilliantly intelligent mare behind them. "Aren't you going to dress up too?" Her eyes widened a little, and I caught a sharp inhalation of breath.

Her desire flared brighter, and Rarity's aura started to ripen to my senses—I almost drooled.

Rarity turned back to her closet and began looking through her things. Considering how I'd been before Feather came into my life, I could completely understand her struggling to pick out something just right. "Oh. Oh, yes. This will be perfect."

Spinning in a circle, Rarity danced with the dress and twirled around with it. I recognized it, of course. There was a time when I would have trampled anypony just to have a look at the revised Princess Dress, but as I gazed onward Rarity put it on.

The diaphanous blue fabric layered onto her brilliant white fur, and each gemstone shone with a different color. I know now exactly what the mares in Canterlot felt when they saw this dress. I wanted it, and I wanted the pony wearing it.

I stepped toward her not as a pretty colt wearing a dress, but as a hungry stallion—bold and full of hunger.

In response, Rarity moved toward me, and the dance she'd performed with her dress caught us both up. Music sprang up (it wasn't from my brothers), and we twirled in circles together. Our hooves knew the dance, even if our heads didn't, and as it turned out when both ponies wore pretty dresses, dancing was even more fun.

Performing, for a siren, was second nature—actually, it was first nature. Even without the magic of pony songs I could have put on a credible performance. As it was, juiced up on magic and guided by destiny, my hooves were alive and matched only by Rarity's.

The song didn't slow down. We didn't end up slow-dancing. We didn't even have time to kiss. One moment the music guided us in a dance step—with me sweeping around behind Rarity—and the next I was facing her back. My heart was heaving and I could hear hers doing the same. I was a stallion, and one who knew when a mare wanted me.

I stepped forward and lifted her dress and ascended her back. Hard already, I nonetheless aimed aside as I slid forward along the silken fabric. She could no doubt feel my length along her belly as my chest weighed down against her shoulders. Leaning up to he neck, I nibbled at the flesh rather than ruin her perfect mane. "Tell me you want this."

It must have taken a few moments before she realized what I'd asked, and that I wouldn't proceed until she had affirmed her desires. Hurry, Rarity, I cannot hold myself back forever.

"Give me just—just one second." Rarity's blue magic boiled off her horn, and it took me a moment to realize what she was doing. When I glanced to my right, I could see two ponies, their bodies matched by dress and in a dance older than time. "Perfect." Of course, Rarity looked to the mirror and smiled.

I had to back down and pull away. Rarity stepped with me at first, but then she must have realized what I was doing. I got far enough back that my aching length raised from where it had been along her belly, and I knew I was aimed right at her core.

"Watch the mirror, Rarity," I said.

Lifting up the dress on the side where the mirror was I ensured that Rarity could see what I was about to push into her. Her gasp met my ears, and the sight of her eyes widening in surprise came just a moment before I pushed.

She looked tighter than I thought she'd be. Rarity was a grown mare, and I expected her to have a string of lovers, but the restriction of her body told a different story. Her moans encouraged me onward, and a glance to the side revealed her eyes fluttering with every movement I made. "You're tight."

I could see I wouldn't get a reply—Rarity's bottom lip was caught in her mouth. I pushed, using my forelegs to pull her hips back while my own hips kept the pressure on her. Not quite as large—penis wise—as I'd been, I broached Rarity's entrance and was engulfed within the silken depths of her body. McIntosh Apple would have made a bigger impression on her, for sure, but McIntosh Apple wouldn't have given Rarity what she adored right now.

Holding still with the first half of my shaft in her, I waited while Rarity calmed herself and regained her composure. Other mares wouldn't want me to take my time, but Rarity was not other mares. Her huffing slowed until she calmed herself back down.

"Why'd you stop, darling?"

"I don't want you going over too soon," I said.

My words caused her to turn her head and glance at me. She studied my face for a moment, then smiled wider. "Such a gentlepony. Whenever you're ready, dear."

With a ruffle of my wings, and anticipating the feast of adoration from the mare under me, I pushed again. My medial ring was the first thing to go in, then another hoof-width of penis behind it. When my thighs pressed firmly to her rump, I was as deep as I could get in her hungry depths.

I held still a moment, waited for Rarity to squeeze at me before I started to pull back. My effort drew a soft whimper from Rarity, a sound I'd never heard from her before. Unlike her normal small expressions, this one begged. I would not leave her in such a state.

"Oh goodness!"

Her cry as I pushed back into her brought my smile wider still—it was so Rarity. Still incredibly slowly for the act we were performing, I pulled back and then pushed into her once more.

Rarity's adoration wasn't growing anymore, but it was ripe enough for me to start to feed. Each slow thrust I made was accompanied by a nuzzle, a nibble, and a swallow. She was as sweet as I'd anticipated, and each thrust just made the flavor better.

I sped up only marginally. The pressure of my body within hers was amazing. I wanted to keep going all day—keep feeding all day—but even the Element Bearer of Generosity had her limits.

Feather Bangs and my brothers had been careful to teach me how to judge a pony's limits, and I was almost at Rarity's. I stopped feeding for a moment and just listened to her vocalizations. I played her like an instrument.

But she played me back. Each time I tried to pull from her, Rarity squeezed down on me. Her muscles weren't those of a trained athlete or a professional dancer, but neither was she an idle mare.

I noticed, from one thrust to the next, when Rarity's breathing started becoming erratic. She'd been matching her breaths to my thrusts, but now little gasps and shudders ruined her timing. Rarity was close.

"Rarity. Look in the mirror at your wonderful creations," I said and brought my pace up. Gone was the slow, deliberate plowing of her body, I was fucking her now.

Her head turned as mine did to look at us in the big mirror. I smiled at her from within the massive cloud of emotions that only I saw. She whimpered and moaned loudly, taking each of my driving thrusts and begging me for more with her voice.

I knew the moment Rarity climaxed. Her face expressed the kind of pure shock that any stallion would love to see on a mare's face, her voice let loose little gasps with each trembling breath, and the honed muscles I hadn't expected such a refined mare to have clamped down on me.

The hurried thrusts before I now put to shame. Like a wild animal I bucked and humped at Rarity. I slammed my crotch to her rump over and over and pushed myself into my own climax. As my glorious end came upon me, I pulled back as hard as I could on Rarity's body and bit into her aura one last time.

My earlier nibbling had only prepared us for this. Rarity screamed in pleasure as I fed. The adoration of her watching the two of us locked in the perfect moment was beyond anything I'd devoured before. I sucked and slurped down her adoration until I reached that moment when I was on the verge of doing damage.

I pulled back from her only in a metaphysical sense.

Letting my physical instincts ride on, I gave repeated thrusts to sink myself as deep as I could while Rarity seemed to wobble, tremble, and then she started to fall.

As her legs folded under her, I wrapped some of my own magic around Rarity like a soft pillow. She didn't hit the ground, she sank to its firm surface only after riding a pillow down.

"How was that?" I asked.

"H-How was… I would humbly beseech you to please fuck me like that again, Mister—" I heard confusion in Rarity's voice. "Mister Beat, that was delightful."

I managed to breathe again. It should have been obvious that she wouldn't tumble into a fugue state just from a feeding like that, but I'd been a little distracted.

"Sure Beat, I must commend you on very fine work. You know your way around a dress and a lady. However, if you would mind being a little careful taking that piece off please?"

Extricating myself from the dress without damaging it was simple, doing so without staining it was a little harder. Between Rarity's magic and my lithe body, however, it was doable.

"Will you be in town long?" Rarity asked.

I realized I'd slipped into old, quiet ways while she'd disrobed me. "No idea, ma'am. Looking to have another rendezvous?"

She looked at me with the fluttering eyelashes and knowing expression of a hungry predator. I couldn't believe that I'd just sucked out so much energy from her and yet she was ready for more. "Perhaps. Did you have plans?"

Plans that didn't include Rarity? I didn't, of course, but I needed more adoration and Rarity was now tapped out. "Nothing set in stone. Perhaps we could have dinner some time?" The prospect of luring another pony into a three-some with Rarity was always on the table, of course, but I'd have to be sure who I was drinking from.

"Let me know when you're leaving, so we could have another little dance." She deployed those eyelashes once more, and it wasn't my siren side that wanted to pin her down and plow her again.

Instead of rough sex, I smiled at Rarity and flipped my mane to the other side of my face. "I'll try to make it happen." I wasn't lying, I just wasn't telling her that bringing another single stallion or mare along too was likely.

Bidding Rarity a good day, I opened the front door of Carousel Boutique and was staring at Fluttershy—an old flame.

Not that we had burned hot, but we had made eyes at each other and enjoyed some casual sex when I was still called Big Mac. We had been friends that fuck for a while, but then we both moved on and found other ponies.

She looked angry.

Discovery

"Fluttershy, darling! What brings you here?" Rarity asked.

The angry look on Fluttershy's face fell completely to confusion. She looked past me to see Rarity, then turned her face back on me. "I-I heard there was some new ponies in town, and Pinkie said she sent one here who wanted to help with odd-jobs. I figured if he was willing to sing for his supper, he could help me with a few little things."

Without a doubt she meant something by the emphasis she put on ponies and sing. Worry mounted as the bearer of the Element of Kindness pinned me with a gaze that brooked no argument. My heart raced, and nothing I could remember of my magic training seemed likely to work. Besides, I couldn't mind-warp Fluttershy!

"Oh, uh, of course. What'd you need doing?" I asked.

"Follow me and I'll show you." With that said, Fluttershy waved to Rarity and turned around.

The view, of course, was magnificent. Fluttershy was a mare who was built a dozen times more perfect than the supermodels that Rarity often employed to show her things off. As Fluttershy walked away, I felt the urge to run, but there was two problems with running away now: Fluttershy might know something and might raise an alarm, and the second problem was a very vocal part of me wanted to follow in case I had the chance of climbing her back again.

"You're a siren," Fluttershy said. Her tone was such it definitely wasn't a question. "What were you doing with Rarity?"

I was caught. All this time wandering Equestria and learning how to be the best little pony-feeding parasite there was and Fluttershy had been the pony to catch me. It was poetic. "You can probably guess," I said.

"No. No I can't. Everything I know about sirens says you should have devoured her to the point she was your thrall. You should be a bloated tick on whatever it is you feed off—"

"Adoration," I said.

"And you should be fighting to get away and never return." Fluttershy stopped on the secluded path to her home. "Which is why I'm giving you this chance. You don't need to over—overpower me. Just leave."

"How many sirens have you met?" I asked.

Fluttershy looked a little more uncertain, which was her normal self. She almost seemed to draw back from me and the conversation. "One. They weren't nice."

"And what did they feed on?"

"Lust." She blushed now. "I-I had to pay them to leave."

"I'm not going to leave, Fluttershy." I walked away from her, making my way further along the path toward her house. "Do you want to know why?"

"B-B-Because you want me to, um, pay you?" Fluttershy had to trot to catch up with me.

"I'm not going to leave, Fluttershy, because I can't. That other siren might have been alone, but I'm not." Her house was in sight now, and it was my target. "You know what I'd like?"

Fluttershy made a soft peep of fear. "M-m-me?"

"Some tea," I said.

"Oh!" Fluttershy ruffled her wings and trotted to get to her home first. "Come in." There was a slight waver to her voice that my time under Feather's tutelage told me she was still unconvinced.

The truth was it would be insane of me to attempt to actually harm Fluttershy. She had a friend who would erase me from existence if I so much as ruffled one of her feathers without her say so.

I followed her inside and was immediately surrounded by animals—angry animals.

"Now, calm down everyone. This is—" Fluttershy's wings spread in alarm.

"Sure Beat." I looked around at the animals arrayed against me. The most worrying was the bear—Harry. He stood about twice my height and had claws that looked like they meant business. He also had gray fur around his muzzle that didn't fool me in the least. "I promise I won't hurt anyone in here."

Fluttershy's eyes narrowed for a moment, but then she let out a sigh. "It's okay everyone. Please leave him be."

"What gave me away as a siren?" I asked.

"Your scent. Please take a seat." Fluttershy bustled into the kitchen. I remembered her as a much more frightened pony, but I guess saving the world a few dozen times makes everyday worries a little easier to face.

The answer surprised me. I watched her through the door as she started making a pot of tea. My view became blocked, however, by Harry. He lifted one huge forepaw up to his face and pointed at his own eyes, then at me, then he used one talon to slice across his throat in a gesture I understood.

"Sirens don't smell anything like a pony. I know other ponies can't smell the difference, but ever since the vampire fruit bat—but I can."Fluttershy's voice cut off sharply when she mentioned the incident with the bats and Twilight's magic. What else did she still have from then?

"What do we smell like?" I asked.

"Predators. You feed off ponies, Sure, and that leaves a mark."

"More parasite than predator, and if you ask me it seems more symbiotic," I said. "Do you know how a new siren is made?"

Fluttershy carried a tray of tea biscuits in and set them on the coffee table in the middle of her living room. "You still eat food?"

"I can." I reached out a hoof and picked up a biscuit that looked like it was filled with sugary cream. "As far as I know all sirens of my line can."

"What makes you say symbiosis?" The word seemed to fall easily from Fluttershy's lips. It wasn't hard to realize why given her chosen lot in life.

"I helped my master defeat two sirens in Vanhoover the first year I was with him. They almost turned me into their own clan, which wouldn't have been fun. They fed on the helplessness of the city." I nibbled carefully at one corner of the biscuit, the delicious flavor rolling over my tongue but doing nothing for my hunger.

"Your master?"

"Are we going to do this?" I waved one hoof at the tea biscuits and then between us. "Grilling each other for information, I mean. Feather Bangs does it much better. I could get him if you like?"

"Feather Bangs is your—" Fluttershy's eyes widened while her pupils shrank. "What did you do to Big Mac?"

It was the last question I expected to be asked, but under the circumstances I should have expected it. I didn't know how to respond at first, but the words slowly came. "McIntosh Apple wasn't a very fulfilled pony. We all met him, but our group didn't harm him in any way."

"I don't know if I can trust you."

"If I tell you exactly what happened to McIntosh Apple, will you promise you won't tell your friends about us?"

She sat there in thought a moment before the kettle's whistle sounded. Fluttershy spun around and headed back into the kitchen. I only had to wait a few moments before she returned with a tea set. "If I find out you've hurt anypony, I'll tell Twilight."

"Feather Bangs turned McIntosh into a siren." I did the duty of pouring tea while I waited for Fluttershy's shock to wear off. "A siren isn't born, they're made. If a pony—or another creature, I guess—accepts their fate and allows siren magic into them, they will start down the path to becoming one. McIntosh Apple followed that trail willingly."

Lifting my cup with a hoof, I took a sip from the tea.

"Where is he?" Fluttershy asked.

"The truth?" I asked. When she nodded, I relaxed my magic and uncovered myself.

Red and white fur intermingled in blotches over my body. I had fins at my neck, and the gemstone embedded in my chest throbbed with soft yellow light. I stretched, smaller than I had been, but bigger than the pony form I disguised as.

"Hello, little butterfly," I said. It was the nickname I'd called her years before.

This time her eyes widened, and she stared at me with pure shock. I didn't need my siren senses to tell me she was adrift on a sea of emotional strife. It took her several minutes to come up with a reply. "Why?"

"Haven't you ever wanted something so much it hurt not having it?"

She just kept looking at me.

"All the times when I was given the slightest chance to dress up, I did. I'm sure Applejack knew, she kept making dares where I'd have to wear mare's clothes. She must have thought I was such a big klutz.

"But now I'm free. Do you know what I just did? I had Rarity—the Rarity—dress me up in the finest fashion. She needed a model, and I was perfect for it. I couldn't have done that when I was a huge oaf. Now I'm just how I always imagi—"

"No you're not!" Fluttershy's emphatic words surprised me.

I closed my mouth and raised an eyebrow.

"You're being used by, by them. You were McIntosh, the sweetest guy I knew and my first big crush, not some monster."

"You had a crush on me?" I asked.

Fluttershy's snout scrunched up a little and she nodded slowly.

"You liked the old me for my body? You just wanted the big stallion?" My question got a shake of her head this time. "Me either. I'm the pony McIntosh always wanted to be. I'm still me, but I'm the me I made."

When she didn't reply, I took another sip of the tea. The taste of it reminded me of tasting other things—namely the mare before me—and lazy days spent learning and fornicating with her.

"Surely there's something you wish would be a little different?" I asked.

"No." Her answer was too quick, and combined the the chaotic swirl of her emotions I knew it was a lie.

"I'm not as good as Applejack at sniffing a lie, but that one was too obvious. What is the harm in telling me? Even if I told someone, you could claim it was a lie since I'm a monster."

Fluttershy hid her snout behind her teacup. The softest of whispers came out but was stolen from the air before it could get past the china.

I pretended I heard nothing.

"B-bigger. Stronger. I wish I could defend my friends better." She drank about half her tea in a quick gulp. It might not be the fiery substance Applejack was named for, but it seemed to be having the same lubricating effect on Fluttershy's tongue. "W-We got stuck in an enchanted comic book. I was—I was just my meek self until I got angry. I grew huge and strong and I protected my friends from bad ponies."

"I remember that time. Applejack came home and spent a whole week shirking her chores to practice with her lasso. I covered for her, o'course, and she finally confessed why she was so worked up about it." More tea for me this time, and I had to admit that it really was good for keeping a tongue moving. "A big strong pony? A pony like I was?" My question elicited a timid nod. "Almost reminds me of the time with the poison joke. You had a voice deeper than mine was."

Bingo. Direct hit. Fluttershy blushed and nodded.

"Why don't we go for a walk?" I asked.

When Fluttershy looked into her cup, probably to protest, she saw that it was empty now. I'd noticed her sipping while I'd spoken and the last few sips hadn't yielded any tea at all. "W-W-W—" She took a deep breath. "Okay."

I finished my own tea, stood up, and stretched.

"You're a pegasus now?" Fluttershy asked.

Nodding, I stretched my wings out into an arc above my back and gave Fluttershy an appraising look. "And loving it."

A flicker of desire crossed her face an emotions but was quickly hidden again. "Where are we going to walk to?"

The spot I knew of hopefully was still there. Apple Bloom had showed me the stand of poison joke a lifetime ago, and had warned me to keep clear of it. "Just into the forest a little. Stay close, you'll be safe beside me."

"A-Actually, you'll be safe beside me." Fluttershy surprised me by walking quickly for her front door and then she slipped outside.

Confidence being a sexy thing, I gave chase if just to be able to watch her walk, and walk she did. Fluttershy was a lithe mare, and I liked nothing than to see fit ponies move.

Sadly, my show was over quickly and I had to catch up and walk at her side. "It's not far," I said, and picked up the pace into a trot.

And it wasn't far at all. We'd barely entered the Everfree Forest and I took a turn down a rarely used path (that looked even less used than when I'd been shown it). A sharp intake of breath from Fluttershy told me all I needed to know—she knew exactly where we were going.

Despite her trepidation, Fluttershy kept pace with me until we rounded a corner and beheld blue. The shade of the trees above showed off the slight luminescence of the poison joke well, giving it a ghostly—ethereal beauty. A beauty that no creature who knew of it would willingly subject themselves to. But Fluttershy had already done it once—knowingly—and that was why this was so obvious.

"You sang for the Pony Tones," I said.

"Y-Yes."

"You sang bass."

"Yes." Her voice was less hesitant, but softer.

Time to roll the dice. "It made you feel bigger." If I just used my siren powers I could twist her mind into believing whatever I wanted for the day. The point of what I was doing was not to make her, but show her.

"I—"

I waited for her to continue.

"It did. I felt as big as you! I was saving the animals, the foals, and—and I was big."

"Then walk." My senses told me that this place was dangerous, but also full of potential for change. Siren magic had a measure of that kind of change to it, and it was that I leaned on. The same magic that let me change shape, that let me be who I was now, poured out of me.

I didn't send it directly at Fluttershy, but rather at the poison joke she was walking toward—and she was walking.

The plants flared bright blue, illuminating the area in their light. Either this would work and something truly magical would happen, or this was all going to Tartarus and I'd have to help her get to Zecora's hut.

Poison joke normally took a day to kick in, but this stuff seemed to wrestle and move Fluttershy while I watched. No sooner had her hoof brushed the first blue flower than it seemed to swell.

I heard Fluttershy's breath catch in her throat, then I watched her jump forward into the middle of the radiant poison joke. The swelling spread up her remaining legs all at once. It reached her shoulders and hips and lifted her torso upward. "Oh my!"

The changes poured through Fluttershy's belly, butt, barrel, and chest. She grew. Still not quite the size I'd been, she nonetheless shook her head as the change took it and caused her features to fill out and her jaw to square off a little.

When Fluttershy spread her wings, they were no longer the petite limbs that she rarely used. Fluttershy's wingspan would have rivaled even Princess Celestia's (not that I wanted to have anything to do with her right now).

"Fluttershy?" I asked.

She turned her head back and looked at me, begging for approval in every aspect of her features. Defenseless, a single course word would shatter her heart right now.

"You look amazing," I said.

"Really?" Her voice was deep—as deep as mine wasn't anymore. She looked down at herself and I could see the smile that pulled at her lips. "I feel strong."

"You look strong. I'd walk over and look a bit closer but you're in the craziest patch of poison joke I've ever seen."

She turned to look at me, then looked down and exclaimed. "Oh!" Gone was the soft voice of a mare who had spoken up maybe once or twice in her life. She walked out from among the flowers with a stride that was wrong for her. She tried dainty steps when big hooves and bigger legs demanded surer movement.

"Push forward. Lean into the direction you're moving. Lift your hooves and put them down like a pony who has something to protect." My words caused her to look up and stare into my eyes. "Come on!"

Her eyes widened, then hardened. Fluttershy nodded and did as I suggested. Then she fell over.

"Get back up. You're the tough one. The big pony other ponies depend on. You have to get up!"

She got back up and pushed on. Practically stomping her way across the clearing, Fluttershy stopped a ponylength from me and stared down at me. "Y-You're so small."

"And you're so big. A pony ponies depend on. Come on, let's go for a run." I turned and had to jump forward quickly—Fluttershy was already galloping.

I knew that feeling. From experience I knew how it felt to be how you wanted to be. Her gallop was like my swimming, and I watched Fluttershy—a grown mare—gambol and laugh like a filly. She tossed her head and bounced about. She tripped and jumped back up. She loved life anew.

Galloping to catch up with her, I rushed past Fluttershy and spread my wings. Flying was different from walking in many key ways, not the least of which was that if you suddenly stop, it hurts.

I'd been practicing my flying since my wings had grown in, and had all the grace and style of a teenager, but for all her size, Fluttershy fly by me as one born to the air.

Her grace was amazing, and each flap of her powerful wings made the turbulence in the air around me increase. She spiraled up and I had to revise my appraisal of Fluttershy. His grace was amazing.

No sooner was I noting he was male than I pictured the big stallion Fluttershy was at the moment atop me. Should I? It wasn't like Fluttershy and me hadn't had fun before. Would I? That question was long since decided. When I'd agreed to join with Feather Bangs and put my future beside his, I'd made the decision to always answer yes.

A tiny voice inside my head reminded me about Pumpkin Cake and the morals that still seemed inconveniently around.

Fluttershy wasn't a filly and I'd never known her as a filly. She was an adult, and she could say no to me if she wished—he wished. I licked my lips in anticipation of letting Fluttershy express himself in more sexy ways.

Gliding, we soared over the trees of the Everfree Forest and back to Fluttershy's little house. I landed first just so I could feel the heavy thump beside me of Fluttershy bringing his hooves down. The siren inside me stirred—hungry.

"This is amazing!" Fluttershy quickly covered his mouth with his wings. "I-I-I—"

"Shout it out. Don't hold back. You have ponies and creatures to protect, and they need to know there's somepony big enough to protect them here." I walked up to Fluttershy's side and had to rear up just to reach his ear with my lips. "Roar, Fluttershy."

"I'm going to protect you!" Fluttershy's deep voice rang out. Dozens of animals poked their heads out here and there, a sign that while he sounded ferocious, he was still perfectly understood by animals.

Fluttershy looked around at the excited faces of the animals and I watched him bubble with excitement. When all the animals rushed up and started climbing all over him, I was treated to the sight of a pony experiencing their special talent in an entirely new way.

I left him to his frolicking and headed inside. My first order of business was to wash the tea set and start the kettle boiling again. As I worked, I found myself shifting and moving to music in my head. I hadn't fed off Fluttershy, and I wasn't sure I even planned to, but I felt good about myself.

"I HAVE A PENIS!"

The deep words were in the closest thing to a shrill vocal register that Fluttershy now possessed. I turned around and raised an eyebrow. "Really?"

"I need to go back and fix this and we need to find Zecora and get the antidote and—"

"Fluttershy!" When he kept hyperventilating, I shouted his name again. "Fluttershy! Slow down. The best bit about all this is that no matter who finds out or what they think, you can blame everything on the poison joke."

Surprise wiped away the panic on Fluttershy's face. "Blame the—But—" He paused a moment, likely preferring to stop further arguments before they reached his lips. "Just the poison joke? But why would I have gone into it?"

"Blame me. I don't mind. Sweet talking traveling performer talked you into walking into the poison joke because he wanted to hear your beautiful, deep voice. Whammy! Next thing you know you're huge and—male." I used a hand towel to lift the kettle from the stove and fill the fresh teapot up.

"All your fault and the poison joke?" Fluttershy blinked a few times, then his nose worked at the smell of tea filling her house. "Is that the jasmine tea?"

"It is. I know it soothes your nerves. Sit down and I'll bring it out."

Fluttershy nodded slowly, turned around, and headed to the couch. That I would get a better look at him while he was sitting up on the couch had nothing to do with my suggestion. Nothing. Zip. Nada.

Well, maybe a bit.

Brewing tea and preparing a little plate of snacks from those Fluttershy kept for just such situations reminded me of the days we'd shared. They'd been fun, happy days, but they were definitely enhanced by rose colored glasses. They'd been wonderful days, but then almost every day since joining Feather Bangs had been wonderful. I didn't regret the change.

When I carried the tea tray out to her living room, I spotted Fluttershy preening his wings. I set the tray down and looked at him. "I could help with that, if you'd like?"

His head shot up and the offending wing snapped to his side. Fluttershy seemed nervous and worried.

I carefully poured two cups of tea, added a little honey to both, and presented Fluttershy with his cup. "Why are you nervous?"

Taking the cup, Fluttershy sipped at the tea and let out a more relaxed sigh. "Why am I nervous? Oh, let me think…" The tone of his voice made almost every sarcastic word from Fluttershy's mouth a pleasure to hear. He let out a sigh. "I'm sorry. Here you are trying to help me get in touch with a different side of myself, and I'm being all uptight about it."

"You think I got used to this"—I gestured at myself with a wing—"without any fuss at all? How many times do you think I cursed Feather for giving me these wings when practicing to fly?"

Fluttershy gave the most amazingly deep girly giggle. "I remember Twilight learning to fly from Rainbow Dash. I think she almost said a lot of naughty things."

I sipped my tea and reached for a treat. With Fluttershy in a talkative mood, I wasn't going to prod him just to see where he was going with it. My eyes traced his form. Fluttershy was bigger than the average stallion—just like she was bigger than the average mare—but it was all leanness.

"We used to do naughty things." Fluttershy lifted a hoof to quickly cover his mouth, but the words were already out. He sighed again, and when he moved his hoof there was a slight smile on his lips. "It's confusing. Shouldn't I like mares now?"

"Did you like mares before?"

He looked thoughtful for a moment then sipped some more tea. "I like them as friends, but I've never had more thoughts about them." Now Fluttershy blushed. "But stallions"—more blushing—"I definitely like."

I hadn't spent this many years under Feather's tutelage and not learned how to sit in ways that show my body off. Shifting my hips, I turned only slightly, but I knew that Fluttershy could see along the curve of my belly right up to the start of my sheath. As I'd looked over him a moment ago, I watched his eyes roam over me and dip to my belly. I shifted just a little—just enough to let him see the start of my sheath.

Fluttershy's eyes were locked on my belly like a predator stalking prey. Looking back at him, I pictured Fluttershy in the throws of passion and felt the tip of my shaft poke free.

He looked hungry. I continued to focus on adorable little fantasies, putting on a show for Fluttershy. It took me a few minutes to reach full mast, and I couldn't tell if Fluttershy had blinked once during it.

"Fluttershy?" I asked.

"Mmm?" He didn't turn his attention away from my exposed shaft.

"Fluttershy?"

Something in his head must have told him something was wrong and he needed to pay attention. Fluttershy's head jerked up to look at me. "W-What happened? Did you use your siren magic on me?" He sounded defensive, but I noticed he wasn't jumping up to make a run for it.

"Is that what they call putting on a show now?" I wasn't aware that Fluttershy could blush harder, but when I raised an eyebrow he did just that. "I promise not to use any siren magic on you without your permission."

"W-W-What's it like?"

"Siren magic? I try to avoid using it except to see what ponies want, and even then it's just easier to put them in a situation where they can tell me. Lots of ponies like to tell me—"

"No. I mean…" He nibbled his lower lip. "We never had a-a-anal sex."

"Awkward. A little odd the first few times. When you get used to it, and when you prepare for it, it's amazing." Thousands of times spent under a stallion or in a pony flickered before my mind's eye. Every single time was something special and amazing. "Would you like to try?"

"No magic?"

"I promised, Fluttershy. You need it to be a Pinkie Promise?" When she nodded, I continued. "Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye." I did the motions perfectly—anypony who'd lived in Ponyville for more than a few months knew the importance of Pinkie Promises. "Happy?"

Still blushing up a storm, Fluttershy nodded his head. "W-What do I do?"

"What do you want to do?" I asked him.

His eyes drifted down to my belly again. "I-I-I w-want to—if it's not too much—I want to taste you, first."

"Bedroom or forest?"

The question held significance for us. When we'd been casually seeing each other, Fluttershy had stuck mostly to her bedroom for anything naughty. There had been a few times, however, where she wanted to do wild things (wild for two small-town ponies usually just involved rough sex), and for that she wanted to feel like an animal.

"B-Bedroom." He practically jumped to his hooves, and I could see there was a burn of excitement in Fluttershy's eyes.

Taking one last little cookie from the tray, I gulped down my tea and popped the snack in my mouth. "You're an amazing pony, Fluttershy." I rolled off the couch and to my hooves as elegantly as I could—I promised no magic, but I could still perform. Practically strutting, I walked with the slightest of sway to my hips so that Fluttershy, behind me, could see my shaft swaying.

When I reached the top of the stairs I turned my head to see if I had him. Fluttershy was looking at my back end alright, but not as far down as my shaft. "I'm going to suck you dry, you know."

For a moment the old Fluttershy was there—he looked uncertain. A moment later, however, and the Fluttershy that confronted a siren alone was looking back at me. "You bet you will."

I knew my way just fine. It had been a few years since we'd shared intimate time, but the times we had spent were some of my fondest memories before I met Feather. Inside his room was much the same as I remembered it.

Before climbing onto the bed I arched my back and stretched. My belly almost touched the floor I got so much of an arch in my spine, and I flicked my tail up to ensure Fluttershy had the best possible view I could give him.

When I looked back over my shoulder I saw Fluttershy staring at me, his shaft hard and exposed. "Do you want to have an entree before tasting?"

A shiver ran from the tip of Fluttershy's nose all the way to his tail. Indecision and desire were written in huge letters across his face, but he didn't say anything.

"Fluttershy, do whatever you wa—"

I didn't get to finish. Fluttershy marched forward stuck his nose under my tail.

The feel of his long inhale of breath from my muskiest place, the cool air flowing toward his nostrils, made me shiver in anticipation. His exhale made me start to tremble. I straightened myself—his nose moving with me to keep under my tail—to better offer him my body to do with whatever he willed.

The Pinkie Promise Fluttershy had wrung from me didn't matter in the slightest if I never needed to use magic. When his tongue touched my perineum, I let out a groan of arousal.

Each stroke of Fluttershy's tongue was more bold than the last. When he passed over my anus, I let out another happy moan.

"You want to ride my back?" I asked.

His tongue left my rump. "Yeah." The deep voice did wonderful things in my ears. Knowing it was Fluttershy behind it only made it better. "I want you."

I turned around and stepped past his surprised face. "Then I need to get you a little more ready." Dipping my head down, I crouched low and kissed my prize.

A visible shiver ran through the length of Fluttershy's shaft and a little whimper left his mouth.

"You need to be wet, unless you're willing to get a lot more acquainted with my ass than than I think you were planning." I kissed the end of him again and pushed forward. With Fluttershy's penis filling my mouth, I worked my tongue around to build up as much saliva as I could—that it teased wonderful sounds from him in the process was a bonus.

Fluttershy pushed me onto the bed. Though he was the bigger stallion, I could have resisted with my siren strength—but of course I didn't. He didn't stop until I was on my back, and then his own lips found my shaft.

As a mare, Fluttershy had known the ins and outs of oral sex. He took just the tip of me in his mouth and started slathering my flare with his tongue.

It wasn't so far of a stretch to catch his shaft again, and soon I managed to shift enough to capture him in the embrace of my mouth.

The room came alive with happy and muffled moans. Despite the offer of my rump, Fluttershy's mind seemed to have been decided on the prize he'd first stated.

Every stallion was unique, and Fluttershy was no different. There was a dimple under his flare that, whenever I ran my tongue over it, made him tremble in interesting ways. Much as I could have spent hours playing with just that one part of him, doing so would be an injustice to the rest of his length.

His hips bucked, and Fluttershy forced himself into my waiting mouth.

I reached up and grasped his rump to stop his thrusting going any deeper, and more carefully started to suck and pleasure the rod of flesh in my mouth. His medial ring was just ahead of my lips, but I had more to explore before I got to that.

Working my tongue along what lay in my mouth, I mapped each vein that ran along him. There was a few, and like every stallion I'd ever met they were a different pattern. Mentally, I cataloged the male lovers I could remember. Stereo, Glamour, and Smooth were the three I knew best. Either one of my brothers could put himself into my mouth and I'd identify him by touch alone.

Fluttershy, meanwhile, was suckling and nuzzling at my own shaft. I wanted to look down and coo to him my appreciation, but it wasn't polite to speak with your mouth full.

Powerful hips slipped from my grip and Fluttershy's medial ring shoved past my lips. I relaxed the muscles of my throat to let him go so far that his sheath bumped my lips. Fluttershy wasn't a small stallion and his penis was no exception. My mouth was full, my cheeks puffed a little, and the start of my throat was swollen around his flare.

I figured since he wanted to go this far he could just do what he wanted—I let go of his hips.

To my surprise, Fluttershy rolled atop me. I hadn't expected him to be quite this active his first time, but I wasn't going to complain—it wasn't like he could harm me. Yellow hips began to pump his shaft in and out. I relaxed my mouth as much as I could to keep my teeth away from him. Watching his balls swing back and forth, I let the former mare fuck my mouth for all he was worth.

It wasn't a hard decision to surrender my control of the situation to him, Fluttershy's mouth around my shaft made a very persuasive argument. Moaning into the driving thrusts, I let Fluttershy do what he wanted.

The payoff came when his talented mouth coaxed me toward climax just as he began speeding up. Perfect moments of mutual orgasmic bliss normally took a little magic to pull off, but for his first time I had to agree that Fluttershy was a talented amateur.

When fast, sharp thrusts caused my lips to engage his sheath with a willing brace of kisses, I felt myself start to unravel. When his heat poured into me, I felt myself unload into him.

Ingress

It'd been comfortable sex—curious sex. Whenever Fluttershy's shaft started to flag, I'd give it a few more gentle licks to keep him a little chubby. I adored the way his hips twitched each time I did it.

"Why'd I agree to all this?" Fluttershy asked. "Why did I go through with it?"

"Because it was fun? Because I promised you'd be safe, and I wouldn't hurt you?" I gave him another lick just to hear his sigh turn into a giggle.

"That's hedonism."

The word wasn't exactly true, if we didn't do what we do we wouldn't survive. "You know we have to do this for food?"

"But you chose to do this for food. It's the choice that makes it hedonism." Fluttershy returned the favor now, licking and nuzzling at my sheath. "But you're right—it is fun. Why didn't you feed?"

"You could tell I didn't?"

Fluttershy seemed distracted by my sheath, but finally she paused long enough to say, "I'm awake. I've read enough about sirens to know they typically feed from a pony to the point of either being a thrall or unconscious."

I let out a chuckle, enjoying the verbal sparring with an old (and new) friend. "And yet you saw Rarity up and walking around after I fed from her."

"Then you didn't feed from her." Fluttershy nuzzled a bit lower, kissing my balls and playing with them gently.

It was impossible to stop the groan his efforts bestowed upon me. "But I did. I drank so deeply she should have been wandering around doe-eyed for a day."

"I wish Applejack was here."

I gasped in mock surprise. "Fluttershy! She's my sister! Pick somepony else if you want to suggest a three-some—you know I won't say no to that."

Fluttershy left off nuzzling my nuts. "N-No. I m-mean she could tell if you're l-lying."

"Well that's easy to solve. I'm not lying." Opening my mouth, I sucked up and down Fluttershy's shaft just once—enough that his hips bucked.

It took him a while to get his head clear, it seemed. When Fluttershy finally spoke, his tone was laden with curiosity. "Is there something special about Rarity?"

"At a guess, I'd say it's all the Element bearers." I licked him again to energize his flagging shaft.

"So you could have fed on me just now?"

"I could have, certainly. You felt plenty enough adoration of me." Returning the favor, I nuzzled his plump balls. "But I didn't."

"Why didn't you? If you go and feed on somepony else, they might not be able to take it." The concern in Fluttershy's deep voice made me want to please him more. Shifting a little, I nuzzled his balls one last time before squirming to get further down.

"What are you do—?" Fluttershy's words cut short as my tongue found his anus.

Nuzzling and nibbling tenderly, I explored slowly to give him time to get used to the new sensation. Our first period together had never involved much more than straight sex and a little bit of oral work on each other's genitals. In my time away from Ponyville, however, I'd learned a lot of new ways to please a pony.

"That is—Oh my g—What are y—"

My licking seemed to rob Fluttershy of his words each time my tongue delved into him. Pressing my lips tight around his bulging ponut, I worked my tongue in as deep as I could get it.

"Waaaaait!" Fluttershy's cry made me stop and ease back. "What are you doing?"

Pulling away from his wonderful rump, I licked my lips. "You don't like it?"

"It feels—It feels odd. Not bad-odd, just odd."

"Want some more?" I asked.

"I don't think so. Maybe when I'm more in the mood. I want to talk more." Fluttershy rolled over and then around so we were both heading the same way, but facing each other. "You're going to go out hunting now?"

"Nope," I said, taking care not to put my old pronunciation on the word. "I'm not sure if you noticed, but we don't hunt, we offer."

Fluttershy frowned a little. "Calling it something else doesn't make it any different. You find a pony you like and then manipulated them to feed you."

"Want me to tell you the secret about how we feed so well?" I used one wing to lift Fluttershy's left forehoof to my mouth and nibbled on the edge of it a little.

Unable to hold back a giggle as I masticated one of his more ticklish spots, Fluttershy nodded.

"We make it well known we are available." I tried to go back to nibbling his hoof, but Fluttershy pulled it away from me. "You really think we have to chase down ponies? Fluttershy, there's plenty of ponies who are happy for a little consequence-free fun."

"But there are consequences, Mac! You drain their—their…"

"Adoration," I said.

"Right. You drain their adoration!"

"We don't drain it. We leave them a little in the tank. I try not to drink anypony into a stupor, but Rarity was just so into me I couldn't stop. And then there's what Mrs. Cake did. Fluttershy, if you ever want some great and freaky fun, make a pass at Mr. Cake." I reached out and grabbed his hoof to nibble, and this time Fluttershy didn't fight me.

Fluttershy giggled again in his deep voice, the sound like hot butter melting down my spine. "Everything I've read about sirens is wrong?"

"No. Every other siren I've met was everything you're afraid of. We just don't work like that. We prefer to care for ponies and move on before our feeding does any harm." I began nuzzling his hoof, working my snout around it and decorating it with little nibbles and kisses.

"You've encountered other sirens?"

I nodded while I worked my tongue into the groove of his frog.

"What happened? What are they like?" Despite his earlier protests, Fluttershy didn't try to dislodge his hoof from my care.

Giving up the hoof only to collect its twin, I let out a sigh. "Their names were Rock and Grunge, and they fed on helplessness. I didn't realize it was them at first, but when they revealed what they were, I played along to give—to give my master time enough to reach me."

"What did they do to you?" Fluttershy wasn't looking at me, but rather at his hoof as I heaped attention upon it.

Kissing the soft flesh of his sole, I let out a little sigh. "They were not nice fish, Fluttershy. They wanted to do much worse things than that other siren did to you. They fed on a mare's helplessness, toyed with her, and almost left her a hollow shell. Her name was Summercrisp Pear."

"Oh. A cousin?"

I just nodded to him and tried to forget what the two monstrous sirens had done to Snuggles. "Or near enough. She's okay now, I left her with all the Bits I could."

"Wait," Fluttershy tugged on his hoof and pulled it from my grip. "Are you saying you patrol Equestria?"

"If you ever want to see my master not be the easy-going stallion he mostly is, show him something hurting ponies. I thought he was going to rip them in half—and I think they thought that too." I rolled to my belly and squirmed a bit. "Do you want to test that thing out properly before we go to Zecora to get you changed back?"

"Change back?" Fluttershy jerked up and off the bed, standing beside it. "But I—" He looked at me. I was laying as provocatively as I could with my belly down, which meant stretching one leg back to show off my thigh and flagging my tail in open invitation.

"I promise you I'm loose enough, and unless you cleaned yourself off, you're definitely slick enough. If you want, I'll even feed." I might be a hedonist, but I didn't have to use an ounce of magic to persuade Fluttershy to advance on me again.

"It—It won't hurt you?" He walked around behind me and looked under my tail.

Glancing back over my shoulder, I could see hunger in his eyes, and the hefty tool hanging under his belly. "Sirens are amazingly robust. You can do whatever you want, and I'll probably moan all the louder for it."

"You're a lot lewder than you were, Mac." Fluttershy stepped forward and put his forehooves on the bed on each side of me.

When he slid forward far enough that his flared tip kissed my ponut, I arched my spine. "Me? Lewd? I'm not the one who's buggering their first lover."

Pushing forward, Fluttershy parted my body around his length and drilled his way deep into me. Stretching and pressing his snout into the back of my mane, Fluttershy's said, "You weren't my first, Mac."

I opened my mouth to ask for more details, but Fluttershy picked that moment to shove deeper, and all that came from my throat was a happy moan. He was definitely a big stallion—bigger than I'd had for a while—but that only served to stir my arousal more.

The sex was awkward after that. Fluttershy bucked well enough, but his aim was far from perfect, and he slipped out of me twice. By the time he finally unloaded in me, we were both giggling almost as much as we were moaning.

Despite it all, I still had plenty of opportunity to bask in the fullness and heat. "You didn't answer my question."

"What question?" Fluttershy's deep voice was breathless, and it made it sound all the cuter.

"Can I feed from you?" I asked.

"You're really serious about asking?" Fluttershy sounded perplexed. "Does it hurt? No. Of course it wouldn't. You wouldn't hurt anypony. What does it feel like?"

I wanted to hug and kiss him forever for realizing his mistake and showing how much he still trusts me. Remembering back to when Feather had eaten up my adoration, I shivered in excitement. "It feels good. I remember wanting Feather to do anything to me, and what he did was made me want that more and more until all I could feel was happy."

"That—That siren I fed before, I think he fed on lust." He sounded embarrassed. "I liked it more than I—I really liked it."

"It's up to you, Fluttershy." Truth be told, he could have asked me anything right then and I would have agreed to his terms—there was something about having a big stallion you trust inside you that makes the world better.

"Okay. Go ahead." Fluttershy shifted a little, and when I looked back he was braced.

"Uh, Fluttershy?" I asked.

"What?"

"I don't mean now. Next time we—"

"You want a next time?" Fluttershy's tension broke and he leaned forward, which stirred a latent sigh of pleasure from my throat. "Oh, right, penis. Hold on." Then he pulled back.

The whole world seemed to explode with colors I'd never seen before. I felt amazing, but empty. All my muscles seemed to go limp, and I completely missed Fluttershy's gasp of shock and ensuing run to his bathroom.

I lay on his bed, my mind twirling in circles at the implications of his answer and how adventurous this new Fluttershy was. Clenching down, I tried to keep all his seed inside—at least until he was done in the bathroom.

When Fluttershy walked back into the room, I turned my head to look at him. "You look magnificent. Do you want to go to Zecora's now?" I jumped to my hooves and quick-walked through to his bathroom.

"I-I-It's getting late. We shouldn't go into the Everfree Forest after dark." His words betrayed him, though I was certainly not going to punish Fluttershy for passing my test.

"Well," I said, "What about we go into town and you can talk to my master?"

"M-M-Maybe we could go into the Everfree Forest after dark. I'm sure it's safe!"

"Fluttershy, he doesn't bite." Done, I washed my hooves and walked out of his bathroom. "Not unless you ask him really nice, anyway."

Enlightened To A Fault

All of Fluttershy's nerves kicked into high gear when we left his house. He started glancing around at the slightest hint of sound, and held his wings slightly out from his body as if readying to fly away.

"Fluttershy?" I asked.

His wings shot out ready to flap and he looked at me like I'd shined a bright light on him. "Y-Yes?"

"Would you prefer it if I went into town and asked Feather to come out here?" I used my wing to gently pat at his, urging him to relax and calm down. Ponyville was almost within sight, and I figured if Fluttershy was this bad now, he'd be a pile worse around ponies he knows.

"He'd come here?! To my house?! B-B-But—"

I kissed Fluttershy's cheek to distract him, and it worked long enough to break him out of panic mode. "I'm sure he'd like a cup of tea. If you start making it, I'll distract him long enough that you'll have it ready when we get back."

A plan of action and promise of support seemed to galvanize him somewhat. Fluttershy straightened—something that made him look even taller than he already was—and gave a firm nod. "I can do that!" Every shout, even with his masculine form, was the slightest of sounds that made me want to wrap him in my wings and nuzzle him for days.

Turning abruptly, Fluttershy marched back to his house with a bounce in his step. Giving him a lift like that felt good in a way that had nothing to do with siren hunger. Seeing his butt sway from side to side was also worth pausing to enjoy.

Waiting until he was out of sight, I made my way into town. Despite what I'd told Fluttershy, my siren senses did want me to hunt. Looking around each pony, I couldn't help but want to taste them and delve their hidden side. I wanted to learn more about everypony, and my siren aspect fed on that desire and cultivated it into desire.

"Now there's a stallion that, if I didn't already know, I'd say wanted something very specific." Feather Bangs' tone was barely above a purr. "Out on the prowl, Sure?"

Feeling more than excited enough, I stepped proudly over to Feather and kissed him. The surprise in his eyes, the way they fluttered closed, did nothing to dissuade me from making it a joyful, powerful kiss. Fluffing out my wings, I pressed my advantage and worked my tongue between his lips.

A hungry moan from my master told me more than words ever could. I continued the contact, reveling in the connection we shared. The kiss lasted far longer than I'd intended, but for some reason I couldn't get enough of the taste of him.

"Sure Beat, there are few I'd welcome that kind of advance from—you are very good at kissing." Feather licked his lips in appreciation. "But you have been missing from my wagon for a night, and while I can see new magic boiling through you, there should be more."

"I found an old friend," I said. "An old flame."

"You didn't drink from them—" Feather leaned in and sniffed at me, "—him."

"She knew about sirens." The words stole all the animation and warmth from Feather's eyes. "She won't tell anypony if we don't do anything bad, but she—he wants to talk to you."

His eyes looked as far from cuddly now as he could get. Feather Bangs looked like he was ready to attack something. "How do we know they aren't going to Princess Twilight right now? And why do you keep changing their gender pronoun? Are they a changeling?"

"Fluttershy—"

"You're talking about one of the Element Bearers?!" Feather looked ready to kill. "We are leaving right n—"

"Feather!" It took every ounce of my strength and willpower to go against his command and hold his face so he was looking at me still. "She gave me her word, and her word is something I trust."

"With your life, Sure Beat? Would you trust her word with your life and ours?" His tone had changed from ice to curiosity. "What would you have us do, then?"

Daring, something Feather had trained into me, I leaned forward and kissed his cheek. "She's making tea and expects us to visit. As for the pronouns, that's complicated."

"Sure Beat, you realize what we're putting on the line here?" Feather asked as he walked up the stairs of our wagon.

I followed him inside to see him writing a note. "We haven't hurt anypony here."

"How's Scootaloo?" I asked.

"She's recovered, even hung around for some more fun. Quite the mare—you'd like her." Feather finished writing his note and turned. "If this goes badly, our brothers will run. The place to meet up again is at Miss Salts', you understand?"

In other words, if we had to stand and fight, he wanted me to run. "That won't happen. Fluttershy gave her word, and I know Twilight wouldn't attack us."

"I'm going with you, little fish. If I didn't trust you, I wouldn't be doing that." He turned and walked up so our sides were brushing. Leaning in, Feather kissed my cheek. "Lead on."

Rather than walk at my side, Feather kept right behind me the whole way. The ogling I knew he was doing calmed my nerves a little—well, enough that I could relax into a more interesting hip-sway gait.

"About the pronouns," Feather asked. "I hadn't asked, but it was a little strange since all the bearers of the Elements are mares."

"It has to do with poison joke. When I knew her, she got a mild case of it and her voice dropped low. Now, with a little tickle from my magic, it went all the way." I looked back, but couldn't catch Feather looking at my rump. "We're almost there. See the little grove ahead?"

Feather didn't say anything as we approached Fluttershy's cottage. I stepped right up to the front door and knocked. "Fluttershy? I brought my—my master."

Feather's eyebrows rose and he turned to look at me. "Master?"

"It seemed right. I mean, you make all our decisions, and—"

"No no, I like it. It reminds me of all the bad vampony books I used to read." Feather stopped talking when the top half of Fluttershy's Dutch door opened with Fluttershy standing just within. "This is the brave pony who knew of me? My dear, I must thank you for not immediately reporting us."

"Y-Y-You're welcome, um…" His voice, deep and dreamy, trailed off into nothing as Fluttershy struggled with the problem of dealing with a monster. "Y-You're here to, uh, stop me talking?"

"Brave indeed. May I come in? I assure you, this isn't some ancient ritual, just politeness." Feather gestured to the lower door, and Fluttershy opened it. "My name is Feather Bangs, and I believe I have the pleasure of speaking to Fluttershy?"

Fluttershy fluffed his wings a little and stepped back. I could see a faint smile on his lips, talking to him calmly was the best way to put him at ease. "Y-Yes! I mean, you are. Please come inside, I've made some tea."

"Tea? Now there's a pony after my own heart. What kind is it? Tell me it's Flapsang Souchong, there's nothing better for calming down than a smoky cup of Flapsang." Feather slipped in the door before me.

"It—It is Flapsang!" Fluttershy's big wings twitched not with worry, but I could tell he was actually happy and excited. Feather, of course, could have smelled the tea and told me what plant it was from. "I-I expect you want to know h-how I know about you? Or did Big M—Did Sure Beat tell you?"

Feather settled down on the couch and appeared to get comfortable. "This is your house, Fluttershy. I wouldn't dream of pressing an issue until you wish to bring it up, but since you did…"

Fluttershy told his story again. While he spoke, I poured tea for everyone. Feather sat back and listened to every word, and when Fluttershy got to the deal he'd struck, he looked angry. Despite being upset, though, Feather waited until Fluttershy was done and staring into the bottom of his second cup of tea before he said anything.

"My dear, please don't assume we are anything like that beast you met. I have no way to actually make it up to you except to find him and ensure he doesn't do anything like that again." Feather's words were expertly chosen to set Fluttershy at ease, but his tone was almost ice. "I understand you and my littlest fish had a dalliance?"

"F-Fish?" Fluttershy asked. "Oh! Sure Beat? I guess…"

"This is how we prefer to operate. We ask, we offer, and we make our skills available to ponies for a price." Light and warmth was back in Feather Bangs' tone. He sipped from his cup with every evidence of appreciation for the tea. "We don't blackmail, we don't take, and we don't force anypony to do anything."

Fluttershy took a deep breath and let it out. "Sure Beat said that, but I—I don't want anypony getting hurt. I found him with my friend, and he said he fed on her, but she didn't look like she had been."

"Sure Beat? Who was this, and what was the outcome?" Feather's words could have been laced with compulsion, but they weren't.

"Rarity. The seamstress in town. I fed from her more than I have from any pony before." I couldn't help sounding awed at how much adoration she'd given me. "She didn't even blink."

"Another bearer of an Element of Harmony?" Feather shook his head. "Sure Beat, you don't keep a low profile, do you?" Despite his obvious disapproval of diving in the deep end, Feather was smiling.

Despite his smile, it was chastisement. I hung my head until I felt a wing wrap around my shoulder and pull me closer to Fluttershy's side. It was cozy to just snuggle against a bigger stallion. All my life as a pony, this had been the opposite of how things had happened. Leaning up, I nuzzled Fluttershy's jaw.

"This isn't what I expected. We've been caught before. I'd put up the illusion of a fight while my brothers got the wagon out of town, and then I'd let them chase me out. Cuddling has never been the result of our nature being discovered." With a sigh, Feather Bangs poured the next round of tea. I waited for him to say more, but he didn't open his mouth again until he was done pouring the three cups. "Do as your heart and head say, Sure Beat. It has led you well thus far."

"I want you to feed from me." Fluttershy's tone made the command from him seem extra strange. What surprised me was he was looking over my head at Feather. "If Sure Beat says it's safe, and won't hurt me, then I want him to promise to protect me if you do start to hurt me."

This was going somewhere I wasn't sure of. Me feeding didn't harm Rarity, but Feather was a full siren. "Fluttershy, Feather doesn't usually—"

"You know, normally I wouldn't, but I can make this something special." Slipping off the couch like the predator he was, Feather Bangs walked around the table the tea set sat on until he was standing before Fluttershy. "You like animals, don't you Fluttershy?"

"Y-Yes…"

I realized what Feather was going to do only a moment before he started to change. His body elongated, stretched out as he floated into the air. Bigger and bigger he grew until he took up most of the room.

It made a lot of sense. He'd picked up on all the signs of animals around Fluttershy's home. Beside me, Fluttershy stared in rapt attention as Feather Bangs swam a loop in the room. "That's amazing!"

Even I could feel the adoration pouring from him. Feather swam closer so that his much larger snout was close to Fluttershy's. Gently nuzzling, he kissed Fluttershy and fed.

My own hunger—I was always hungry as a siren—threatened to join in, but I'd promised Fluttershy I'd be the one making sure he didn't get hurt. I needn't have bothered. Feather was practically glowing a moment later, and still Fluttershy looked just as excited as at first.

Turning to look at me, Fluttershy had tears in his eyes. "You didn't tell me sirens were so beautiful!"

"This isn't his full size, Fluttershy. Feather wouldn't fit in your house." I had to hold back a shudder of desire—the smell of Fluttershy's adoration was so potent that I'd have given anything to taste it, but I was holding out for the right moment.

"Sure Beat, I must concede that you knew what you were talking about. He's delightful! I've only met one pony I could drink this deep from who never took harm from it, and she would be dangerous to meet again." Feather swirled and swam around the room. "Follow me! I'll show you everything!"

There was a tone in my master's voice I'd not heard before: whimsy. He laughed as he swam outside, and in the excitement I couldn't help but join him. Sloughing off my pony facade, I felt my magic lift me up and I swam after Feather.

Behind us, Fluttershy trotted out of his house and continued to stare in rapt attention. "You don't have a full tail yet? How long does it take to grow? You have the gemstone, can you do more siren magic? What does it feel like to swim through the air?"

I swam circles around Fluttershy, but above us Feather grew and grew. He wound up nearly as big as Fluttershy's house, and I couldn't help but feel proud that he was my master. He swooped down and hovered just before Fluttershy and Feather looked at him in utter disbelief.

"A-Are you okay? Are you still hungry? I can't feel you feeding anymore. Do you—" Fluttershy's trail of questions were halted by Feather's hoof reaching out to boop against his nose.

"I'm full, Fluttershy. Do you know how long it's been since I've been able to say that? How long I've lived since I was last sated?" His gemstone throbbing with power, Feather swam around and around us until he could almost touch his own tail. "Tell me, this other siren, how long ago was he here, what did he look like, and where did he go?"

"You're going after him?" Fluttershy turned in place to watch Feather swim lazily around him. It was like watching a big predator—sated—watching a little mouse. Only this little mouse had sated the predator and was why the predator was so happy. "I-I don't think—"

"You misunderstand. There are many reasons I will find this fish and suggest he leave for open water. Sure Beat, would you explain why I would hunt this siren?"

Fluttershy turned his head to look at me in expectation.

It wasn't a test, but was. I knew why Feather would hunt down such a siren, but suspected other reasons too. "He hunted in Equestria. Feather Bangs—all of us—are territorial, Fluttershy. Equestria is our territory. We take care of ponies and see they don't come to harm, so having a rogue siren making trouble is a big problem.

"And further, I think Feather Bangs likes you. Ponies that know of us are rare, maybe one or two in a town, and he treats them all like his personal property. I know they—you—aren't, but I think Feather is a little old-fashioned in his thoughts." I spared a look for Feather and noticed he was looking back with a curious expression. I hoped he wasn't about to get angry. "Old-fashioned, for a siren, is being a thousand years old or more."

"It is curious to be so open. Both relief and a sense of worry at the same time. It's true, I was raised in a time when ponies are just food. Long have I worked to change my opinion, but it's not easy to tame such a beast as ones own past. I can assure you, I have no wish to own you in the way you're thinking, Fluttershy, but you do live in my territory." Feather tightened his circle still more until he squeezed me out and coiled himself around Fluttershy, giving barely enough room for Fluttershy to turn about.

Fluttershy gulped and stood his ground. He was so brave when facing monsters and creatures, but if Feather had been a pony Fluttershy would have run inside and hidden under his bed. "Th-That's like a lot of predators, actually. T-T-Timberwolves a-always call me 'food'."

Feather stopped dead and looked at Fluttershy with surprise. "You talk to timberwolves? Most ponies tend to just get chewed on a bit. You are a surprising pony, Fluttershy. Very surprising."

"I can talk to all the animals, and they talk back—if they want to, that is. Timberwolves mostly just chase me, but I've found a few hurt ones that needed help. They don't really go out of their way to try to eat me, but I try not to put myself in their way." Fluttershy looked more embarrassed than scared.

"Feather?" I asked. "You might want to give her—him some space. Fluttershy gets a little, uh, worked up when meeting new ponies."

To my surprise, though, Fluttershy shook his head. "It's not that. Feather isn't a pony." He looked up into the curious face of Feather Bangs. "I just get a little nervous around predators."

"Would it help if I said I was fully fed?" Feather asked.

Fluttershy actually giggled. "It would, but I remember what it felt like when you fed on me." He seemed to be taking it surprisingly well. "I'd offered Big—Sure Beat, too, but he said he wanted to wait until we—"

"My little fish hasn't fed from you at all? Did he ask for your permission?" Feather looked over at me then back to Fluttershy. "He still has a lot of pony traits. Seeing ponies adapt to becoming sirens is what gives me hope that I will eventually stop being quite so—sirenish. Sure Beat begged me to teach him everything and offered his body to me as a canvas. I could do much for you too, Fluttershy."

I know my heart skipped a beat, and I was sure Fluttershy's did too. Pony and siren looked at each other, and for the barest moment I wondered if Fluttershy would say yes.

"N-No. I still have things I need to do." Fluttershy gave a firm nod of his head. "There's a lot of animals that need my help and I know I'd care less about helping them as a siren."

Loosing the most heartfelt and sad sigh, Feather shrank himself down and reshaped himself to be a pony again. Fluttering his lashes, Feather struck one of the poses that had melted my heart. Well, they melted my heart after I managed to stop seeing him as a rival. "Fluttershy, I could give you anything, but you know that already, so I'll give you just one promise."

After a few moments of waiting for the promise to no avail, Fluttershy finally asked Feather, "What promise?"

Feather's face lit up in huge smile. "So my promises do mean something? Wonderful. Every two years I will come past Ponyville. It might just be a visit to you, or it might be another few days spent giving the town a wild few nights, but I will come back and ask you to join me."

"S-So I could—I could live out my life and then say yes?"

"I have time on my fins, Fluttershy, I don't mind waiting for a beautiful pony to join me. Besides, I need to plan!" Feather danced on his hooves as if he had a pony dancing with him. He looked like he heard music he was moving with such perfect time. "With the reservoir of adoration you hold, it will take care and work to reduce you enough that I can make you a siren."

It struck me how much Feather seemed to care for Fluttershy. Sex, lust, play, and even feeding were day-to-day things for Feather Bangs, but finding a pony with whom to craft a siren was rare. He stopped his dance and, rearing up, held out a hoof to Fluttershy.

"S-So I don't need to say I'll do it today?" Fluttershy asked and got a nod. "All I have to do is say I will say yes one day?" Another nod. Tentatively holding out a hoof, Fluttershy barely touched Feather's and was scooped into a dance.

Music, and the magic of it, was literally what sirens do. I couldn't exactly make music on my own easily, so started humming a tune. The balance of magic was fine, if I just dumped everything into it I might as easily mesmerize Fluttershy as strike up a jaunty tune for them to dance to, but I'd had good teachers.

Feather and Fluttershy danced around out the front of the house. Feather didn't seem to mind being smaller than Fluttershy, though he did maintain the lead. I could have been jealous of them, but there was nothing sexual about it, and given my history I had no legs or wings to stand on when it came to monogamy.

Everything seemed perfect until a rainbow blur slammed into me. Shaken, I tried to get my hooves under me but was rushed again and struck in the jaw. The blows didn't hurt so much as stun me each time. Unsure what was happening, I tried to curl into a ball.

"Stop it!" Fluttershy's deep voice practically shook the ground with the intensity of his shout. "Rainbow Dash! What do you think you're doing?!"

"Saving you two from a—What kind of monster is this?" Cocky and sure of herself at first, Rainbow Dash's voice turned to confusion as she looked first at me, then at Fluttershy. "Uh, Fluttershy?"

"Now you listen here! They were being nice before you arrived. Now you've only gone and beaten up a poor, defenseless creature!" Fluttershy stomped his way over to me and then reached out with a wing.

Rather than continue in my current shape, I reverted back to the comfortable pegasus form that I loved. "I'm alright, really." I took his wing and let Fluttershy pull me up to my hooves. "No harm done."

Rainbow Dash just stared at me for a moment before shaking her head and looking at Fluttershy. "Okay, leaving shapeshifting fish-pony alone for a second—against my better judgment—what the heck happened, Fluttershy?"

"I—uh—well…" Fluttershy seemed to flounder for an idea. She wouldn't lie to her friend—not Rainbow Dash, and not on something important.

"We were talking," I said. "And he—she was talking about how poison joke affected her. I was absolutely curious about it, and Fluttershy agreed to show me what it would be like. I guess it got supercharged with magic or something, because she—well…" I gestured at Fluttershy as the conclusion to my story."

"Really? You expect me to believe that load of road-apples? Fluttershy, is that—Fluttershy?" Rainbow turned to Fluttershy only to see the relief my telling of the truth inspired. "You can't be serious!"

The looks Rainbow kept shooting Fluttershy didn't add up right in my head. She looked like she was trying to focus on looking at just Fluttershy's face, but Rainbow Dash's eyes kept straying down and back. It didn't take siren senses to see Rainbow's interest.

"A-Actually, he's telling the truth." Fluttershy looked just as surprised of that fact as he was apparently oblivious to Rainbow's interest. "Besides, I can always get it reversed by Zecora, it's kinda fun being big and strong for a change." As he said the last bit, Fluttershy stretched out his wings and struck a minor pose—he completely missed seeing Rainbow's jaw figuratively hit the ground.

Not that I didn't appreciate the pose Fluttershy took, he looked amazing.

"Well, look at the time!" Feather Bangs had affected a nervous tone and looked back toward town with a longing glance. "D-Don't forget what I said, please? I promise I won't!" Turning, he galloped back to town as fast as his hooves would take him. I just wish that one day I could be as good an actor as him.

"Okay, what exactly's going on here? What's with the dork and the monster here? And why do I have the feeling there's more to this than either of you are telling me?" Rainbow Dash had completely ignored Feather, and I had a feeling the only reason she included me in whatever was going on because I was a "monster" to her.

But the thing was Fluttershy was getting more nervous again. "He's just a pony with, uh—"

"I got attacked by a siren, okay? That's why I have the whole fish thing going on. It happened years ago, and I just try to keep it hidden and not bother anypony with it. Fluttershy wanted to see what I really looked like, so I just—" I didn't need to go any further. Years living with Applejack had taught me when the truth was better used than a lie, and I told Rainbow nothing but the truth.

"Whoa! That's pretty awesome, actually. Sorry about attacking you, but I get a little worked up when I think something's attacking my friends. I'm Rainbow Dash!" She stuck one wing out toward me.

Returning the gesture, I shook wings with her. "I'm Sure Beat."

She paused a moment, then Rainbow rolled her eyes. "Come on! Surely you've heard of me? Hero, former Wonderbolt, fastest pegasus in Equestria—Rainbow Dash!"

So full of herself after all these years—Rainbow Dash. "Doesn't ring any bells…" I looked at Fluttershy and winked.

Fluttershy's deep chuckle tickled down my spine like warm honey. "He's joking, Rainbow. Everypony knows about you."

"Well of course." It was time for me to stroke her ego a little. I remember liking it when she was really proud of herself. "Who doesn't know of the mare who can perform sonic rainbooms? You know, I've had a bit of a crush on you in the past."

Fluttershy and Rainbow both stared at me.

"What? It's true! Still kinda do." It was true, but then I'd always admired Rainbow's ability to shrug off anything that didn't make her feel better. That she was also the perfect mix of feminine and bravado that typified a tomboy, but it was also similar to the smaller and firm masculine look that I now typified.

Rainbow Dash had resumed flying and looked at me curiously. "Still do?"

I traced her body with my eyes, noting that her curves weren't the soft ones most stallions would delight in, but firm and tight muscles. "Absolutely. What about you, Fluttershy?" Baiting my hook, I joined Rainbow in turning to look at Fluttershy.

"W-W-Well I just—That is to say—I mean I—" Fluttershy looked trapped. He was looking this way and that, but certainly not at Rainbow.

"Fluttershy," I said and walked closer to Rainbow, "Look at her. Pegasi are often built for speed, but Rainbow Dash is the pinnacle of her species." Rainbow wasn't exactly doing anything to help at this point, so I took a hoof in things and grabbed her to set her on the ground. Guiding her legs with my hooves, I invaded Rainbow's personal space so completely that she was in shock.

Adjusting Rainbow Dash to stand in a way that truly showed off not just her lithe strength, but sensuality wasn't easy. The moment I tried to adjust her wings, she caught onto what I was doing and glared at me. "Play along."

"What? Why?" Rainbow sounded confused and not a little wary, but she kept her voice low.

"Because you want to see what Fluttershy can do in the sack." My answer stunned Rainbow long enough to get her properly posed. "Well?"

I'd used the pose myself often enough to know what parts of Rainbow's body Fluttershy would be focused on. His eyes were glued to the strong curve of Rainbow's rump. I almost had him.

"She has a thing for me?" Rainbow asked sotto voce.

Grinning at the curiosity in Rainbow's voice, I used a hoof to correct one of her wings leaving its slightly open position. "He does. His eyes are glued to your rear. Take a step—slow—and try to keep your upper body and wings in the same position."

Rainbow Dash took that step, and I watched Fluttershy's wings shoot up into the air a moment before he rushed back into his house. "What happened?"

"Rainbow, he's your best friend. If you can't tell when he's embarrassed about his feelings, I can tell you he's embarrassed about his feelings. Would you like some tea?"

I got two steps toward Fluttershy's cottage before Rainbow Dash recovered her wits and zoomed around in front of me. "What makes you think you know Fluttershy better than I do?!" She looked ready to fight again.

Rolling my eyes, I started to step around her only to be blocked again. "I don't know him better than you, I just know this one pony he'd like to try something with, and figured I'd let them know." I glared at Rainbow, daring her to call me out.

"Tea?"

"Come on. It starts with tea." This time, when I stepped around her, Rainbow Dash turned with me and walked toward Fluttershy's cottage. "I can't believe you two never got together."

"Wait a second. You're speaking like you know her—him—really well. How long have you two been, err—?"

"I've been away a while, but we used to spend some cold nights together a few years ago." Walking through the open door to Fluttershy's home, I gestured to the couch. "He'll probably come down when he smells the tea brewing. Fluttershy never could resist a cup of tea."

"It's strange. You speak like you know me and Fluttershy, but I've never seen you before. I'd definitely remember a half siren in town, and I don't think Fluttershy would be able to keep a secret like that." Rainbow's eyes were glued to the stairs while she spoke.

Not for the first time today, I made tea. "I wasn't part siren back then. This is more recent. I'm also a little forgettable if you're busy saving Equestria every other day, or teaching at a school, or being a member of the Wonderbolts, or…"

With a chuckle, Rainbow nodded. "Fair enough. How'd you really do the whole stallion thing with her?"

"Siren magic involves change, it's how I can look like a normal pony. I supercharged the poison joke. He was really pent up." The water was just reaching a boil as I finished speaking. I measured out more tea for the pot and tipped in the boiling water. "I'll need to go into town to replace all the snacks we're using up."

The sound of a heavy hoof on the stairs and Rainbow's attention shifting to them alerted me to Fluttershy's presence. "Jasmine tea," I said. "Would you like some?"

"He told me this is all his fault. It's cool, Fluttershy. Why don't you come over and sit down?" Rainbow Dash sounded a lot more calm about the situation than I thought she'd be—maybe she'd grown a little in the last few years? When Fluttershy started to sit down on the second couch—alone—Rainbow patted the spot beside her. "Fluttershy, over here."

It clicked in my head now, Rainbow had made up her mind. The predator in me hissed in excitement at the prospect of a meal. Fluttershy had given me permission, but Rainbow hadn't. "Why don't we all say what we want to and get it out in the open so we can talk about it?" I asked.

When neither Rainbow nor Fluttershy replied, I sighed and rolled my eyes. "I guess I get to start. I want to fuck both of you."

"What?!" Rainbow's head spun around to glare at me. "What did you just say?"

"The truth. I enjoy sex. I enjoy the way it makes two—or more—ponies so amazingly happy and connected if for just a few moments. I enjoy seeing somepony smile when they remember it." I shrugged and started to pour the tea. "How do you take it?"

"WHAT?!"

"Your tea," I asked Rainbow again. "How do you take it?"

Fluttershy got a case of the chuckles and giggles this time, and the sound was music to me. It wasn't adoration, but it was a pony I cared about in a good mood. "H-He's right. It is fun."

Rainbow Dash almost looked about to explode, then in a first for me, I saw her rethink her words. "The tea?"

Continued giggles almost threatened to overwhelm Fluttershy. "No, silly. I mean sex is fun. Tea is nice too, but there's something magical about connecting and sharing so much with one pony—or more—"

"Why do you both keep saying 'Or more'?" Rainbow took her cup of tea and sipped it. "You're talkin' like I'm just going to join in with—Did you two plan this?"

"Not really," I said as I passed another cup to Fluttershy, "But when an opportunity presents itself, I don't turn it down."

Rainbow seemed to ignore the cup held in her wing. "So, what, you both—with me—at the same time? I'm pretty awesome, but I don't know if I can keep both of you busy at the same time."

"You know, Rainbow, for a mare you sure are cocky. I happen to know a lot of things two mares and a stallion can do together, or even two stallions if said mare gets worn out too quick—" I didn't get to finish, not with Rainbow Overly Competitive Dash present.

"Nuh-uh! You could never wear me out. No way, no how!"

"R-Rainbow, remember he's part siren. He has more—um—stamina than a normal pony." As she spoke, however, I could see a change in Fluttershy. Had her nervousness changed from this might happen to how will this happen?

"It. Doesn't. Matter! Nopony and nosiren can wear me out!"

I'd barely rescued the cup from Rainbow's careless grip as she struck a pose and flared her wings. It wasn't exactly adoration, but my hunger stirred at the mix of emotions she was radiating. I passed her back her cup and leaned closer to mock whisper to her, "Then prove it."

That, apparently, reminded Rainbow Dash of what claims she was making. She blushed beet-red and I swear if anypony made a sound, she'd have bolted for the door. As it was, she took a sip of the tea, sat a moment, then laughed. "I walked into that."

"You did," Fluttershy said with his beautiful deep voice. "You don't have to if you don't want to."

Rainbow waved a hoof dismissively. "Nah. You've both talked it up so much now I gotta see what you're talkin' about. I guess I just figured my first time would be a bit different, was all."

"Wait. This is your first time?" I couldn't believe it. "Your first time ever?!"

It was Fluttershy's deep laugh that told me I'd just been played.

Looking up at me with a confident smirk, Rainbow poked my side with a wingtip. "Gotcha. Not even my first time with two stallions, though the last time they were a bit more focused on me. You two already—uh…"

"In a manner of speaking," I said. "So, what do you want to do?"

Gulping down all her tea, Rainbow turned to Fluttershy and looked him up and down. "First, I want you to do whatever you want, Fluttershy. I don't want you to hold back at all." She turned back to me and opened her mouth.

"Don't say that to me unless you mean it." The beast and hunger inside me was swimming around just behind my eyes. I wanted her to say that so bad, but I had to be careful.

"Fuck you. You can't do all that build-up and then say that. I want whatever you can give me, and I'll give back twice as hard." The temerity in Rainbow's voice made me want to howl and show her everything I was, but then, she'd already seen me for what I was. "Yeah, I said that. Bring it, tough g—"

Using one wing I plucked the empty teacup from Rainbow's grip, set it and my own to the side, and lunging forward I shoved my belly against her back as she instinctively twisted to move away. Rainbow Dash had told me I could do anything. I hungered for the adoration I knew burned within her. Closing my mouth around the scruff of Rainbow's neck, I squeezed down for a moment before letting go again. "You said whatever. Do you really mean I can do whatever I want?"

Rainbow Dash surprised me and did what nopony had done to me since I started becoming a siren—she overpowered me physically. Tilting to the side, one of her wings grabbed my foreleg and pulled it under her while her back legs shoved up and forward. My world turned upside down and I was left staring up at a grinning blue face. "Whatever you want." To my further shock, she kissed me.

There was no way she should have been able to do what she'd just done, but the results spoke just as loud as her words. I rolled over and let loose with a purring growl. "Anything—"

"Stop!" Fluttershy's voice, deep as it was, cut through the haze of arousal Rainbow had stirred within me. "You will not be doing this beside my best tea set!" Rainbow and I both stared as Fluttershy picked up the tea tray with his wing and—with his tail cocked to the side so we could both see all of his rump—carried it to the kitchen and put it away.

Struggle Snuggle

"Does he mean to do that?" I asked.

"Are you asking if Fluttershy means to show hers—himself off like that? Pfft, nope. Makes for a good spectator sport, though." Rainbow only looked away from Fluttershy's departing form when she couldn't see him anymore. "You're pretty strong, but you could do with some work, ya know?"

I snorted. "I've never had to fight a genuine hero before, and I don't plan to again."

"You should think about it. You're pretty tough. I think you could take out—well not Tirek or something on that scale but—smaller baddies." She looked over me, tracing my body from the tips of my hooves to the end of my snout. "I'll say one thing, though, I've probably never met a stallion that looks like you and has that much oomph."

I wanted to get a read on what she wanted without dipping into my siren powers. Did Rainbow Dash want a strong partner, a stallion she could overpower, or a dominant partner who could finally put her down? Picking the right tactic would get us both into a lot of fun, picking the wrong one could physically hurt me.

Well, if not using my siren magic was the way to do it, and I couldn't get a fix on her even after years of practice, there was only one thing left to try. "So, uh, what'd you want to do?"

"Sirens don't get mystical powers to know the hearts and minds of ponies, huh?"

"Actually, we do. I just don't think using them is very—uh—nice. Besides, a lot can be learned by asking." I took a moment to really examine Rainbow Dash again. Her body was compact and built for speed. She was an athlete and a powerhouse, but while those were both good labels, it was her flying that was the pinnacle of Rainbow. I didn't care that she was watching me watch her.

Rainbow waited a few more moments before replying. "I guess normally I like to play rough with guys. Pulling manes and tails, that kinda stuff. Never really met anypony that could come anywhere close to overpowering me before." She was blushing up a storm. "Might be fun to…"

"To what?" I asked.

"To be overpowered. Not that you could. You're pretty strong, Sure Beat, but you ain't Rainbow Dash strong."

Heading back to our wagon to get the bridle and restraints would take far too long, they'd be miles too big, and Rainbow still might snap them, but I did need something to give me an edge if I was going to overpower her. There was only one thing I could do to give her that feeling without breaking myself in the process. "Do I have your permission, Rainbow, to do everything within my power to restrain you for a day?"

We both froze and turned our heads to see Fluttershy standing, looking at us with his wings flared in obvious shock.

"Perhaps Fluttershy can spot for you. Make sure I'm not doing anything beyond what you want." I inhaled what I could tell was the scent of a mare reacting with arousal.

Rainbow shivered beside me—a good shiver—and looked at Fluttershy. "Like when lifting weights? But what if I want Fluttershy in on it?"

"Then we tag and swap. Or we could make a word that you could say so I'll stop," I said.

"Like a tag-out? Pfft, I'd never use that."

"Stop it!" Fluttershy stomped forward and into our conversation. "You can't just—Talking about these things is—"

Proving herself faster than me, at least, Rainbow jumped to her hooves and hugged Fluttershy, though somewhat awkwardly given their size difference. "You've already bucked him, Fluttershy. Leave the soft mutterings to Rarity. He's literally the first stallion I've met that could go toe-to-toe with me—maybe—and you want me to dance around the subject of sex?"

I decided it'd probably be for the best if I didn't mention my time with Rarity.

"W-Well…" Fluttershy started to shrink back, but then stopped and stood straighter. This was mildly hilarious because Rainbow had still been trying to hug him at the time. "Okay! I'll watch for the start, but then it's my turn!"

Rainbow Dash stepped back from Fluttershy with a big blush on her cheeks. She looked up at her friend. "You really wanna…"

"Yes!" Fluttershy said.

"…With me?"

Fluttershy froze and looked down at Rainbow. As he did his eyes slid over to me.

"Rainbow Dash," I said. "Fluttershy wants to join in. I know some mares fantasize about having two stallions in a three-some, but it's not all about the mare, remember?"

"Sure? If you're trying to teach Rainbow that the world doesn't revolve around her, you're going to have to try harder." Fluttershy looked almost as shocked by what he'd said as Rainbow looked at hearing it.

"But—" I waited until Rainbow looked back at me before continuing, "—if you want a little mare-worship, I think I could definitely handle that. What about you, Fluttershy?"

"W-W-What's mare-worship?" Fluttershy asked.

I stood up from the couch and walked around Rainbow. Normally someone would probably hold back and try to give an aloof accounting of their target's features. I leaned down as I circled and ran my snout along Rainbow's short mane, down to her wings, then back up and licked along her ear. "It's when a group of ponies focus everything on one mare. They make her the center of their world and prove to her how much she means to them."

"Buck…" Rainbow's wings shot up in surprise, and I could see her on the verge of taking flight. "Y-Yes please?"

Fluttershy looked at me with an unsure expression.

"I can help, if you want me to."

"Huh?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"O-Okay. W-When we do that, can you help me get into it?" Fluttershy's cheeks looked almost as red as my fur used to.

"If you need it. Maybe we'll be too far into things by then. Back to Rainbow." I looked at the mare in question and raised an eyebrow. "So, what about it? If you let me use some tricks on you, I think I can 'overpower' you."

"Hold up. Could we do it like some kind of attack?" Jumping up on the couch, Rainbow pantomimed swinging punches my way. "I'm trying to defend my cute coltfriend when a ravaging monster attacks!"

I could see the conversation going on and on with no resolution except for two stallions and a mare getting way more horny than they should without relief. Turning, I marched toward the front door, opened it, and stepped back outside.

The moment I was clear of the house I let my pony form melt away from me. It was good to be my siren self again. Well, at least partly siren self. My dock grew out and become almost half as long as my body; my back legs absorbed halfway into me, leaving little stumps; and my gemstone became prominent on my chest, thrumming with power—Rarity had been an excellent feast.

Feeling more alive, I swam through the air on my magic until I was just above the door, and waited. When Rainbow walked outside and looked around, I pounced.

"Whoa! Hey! What're you—" Rainbow Dash wouldn't be caught by a simple attack from above, however. She thrummed her wings and shot off to the side and hovered there. "You really think you can get the drop on me? Come on! It takes more than that to ambush Rainbow, Danger, Dash!"

Okay, games. I flashed my fangs at her. "I've already grown fat feasting on your coltfriend. Now it's your turn. I'm not going to go easy on you, Crash, not once I catch you." I knew her Wonderbolts nickname from years earlier when I'd heard my sister talk about it.

I started to charge at her, using the speed and focus of my attack be a perfect distraction. Gathering up a mass of magic, I hurled it to Rainbow Dash. The magic was simple, it coiled up the pony in their own emotions—amplifying them a dozen-fold.

When Rainbow paused after my magic hit her, widening her eyes, I thought I had her already. She shook her head and dodged my physical attack. "W-What was that? Did you use magic?!"

"The simplest magic. Everything you feel, you'll feel much more." I sniffed the air, and the slight scent of arousal I'd found before was swelling—growing into much more. "Did it work?"

"You're all big and stuff! Why do you get magic too?!" Rainbow glared at me from the distance she'd established.

I could have simply cast the spell again. Normally, in a fight, it would only make an enemy more dangerous, but since Rainbow was already aroused, it had a more pacifying effect. Not that I wanted to win quite this quickly. "Because monsters don't play fair, Rainbow Dash." I circled around and charged again, this time coming from up-wind of her.

If I'd moved faster, the scent of my own arousal wouldn't have reached her before she dodged, as it was, I watched her pause for a moment as her nose twitched. When I reached her, she barely got away.

Rainbow seemed to understand that I was just wearing her down with tricks. Instead of holding her distance, she turned and charged toward me with a hoof out.

I thought of a million things I could do to avoid her strike, but none of them so much as started to be put into action before she hit me. It was silly. I wasn't a fighter, I'd never learned how to punch or buck in anger, and I hadn't spent most of my life defending Equestria from the biggest and baddest nasties you could think of.

Spinning through the air, I tried to roll with the hit as best I could and focus on Rainbow Dash—who was keeping pace with me. I turned around when I thought my magic was up to it, and reached out for Rainbow. Had she been in any state other than horny as buck, she would have easily slipped away.

"Hey! Get off me!"

Trying to hold Rainbow Dash was another lesson in futility. She squirmed and wiggled, struggling to get free with each movement. I was running out of time before she'd get away again and probably wind up "defeating" me, and then I'd just be another stallion she'd put in his place.

Well, there was always one thing I could do. Shoving Rainbow down, I slammed my body against her as hard as I could. I ignored the wheezing gasp Rainbow let out and pinned her against the ground with my body. "You thought you could defeat me?" I asked.

"Ugh! I'd be able to beat you if you didn't—" Rainbow Dash froze for a moment as my hard shaft pressed under her tail. My aim was off, but just the act made her aware of my intentions. "Y-You're going to—to—to buck me as a siren?" There was surprise and excitement in her voice.

"Nothing you can do to stop me." My words emboldened her to try to squirm loose, but I just leaned a little harder and used my mass as my most effective asset. Shifting my tail a little, I lined up better and pushed against her—missed—and slid up between her back legs.

"N-Not gonna lose to—to a fish!"

When Rainbow Dash tried to shove me off, I moved with the action only so far as it drew my hips back and lined me up properly. For a heartbeat I was at the peak of my assent, and the tip of my shaft kissed against her vulva.

I growled a little and pressed down a bit harder. "Mine!" Rocking my hips forward, I tried to avoid putting too much pressure on her as I pushed inside, for fear that she wasn't wet enough. I needn't have worried.

Rainbow moaned and squeezed at me, but she was wet enough that I could push halfway into her before needing to back up. "Y-Ya won't—Ya won't defeat me!"

With another hungry growl, I pushed into Rainbow and didn't stop until my belly was firm against her croup and I could feel her rump under my tail. "I defeated you before you even left Fluttershy's cottage. Your coltfriend made these same sounds for me. Now it's time for you to sing, Crash."

I felt her curl her spine, her legs bracing into the ground and pushing back against me, and she arched her neck so her head looked nearly straight up—I almost expected her to howl. "Fffffff—You call that fuckin'? C'mon! Diamond dogs buck harder than this."

If I weren't so well versed with other ponies and their little mannerisms during sex, Rainbow's dirty talk might have unnerved me. She did surprise me, however, with the comment about diamond dogs. Reaching forward with a win, I grabbed at her shoulder and pulled her back more firmly. "Fucked a diamond dog, have you? Doesn't surprise me."

"What?!" Despite her exclamation, Rainbow kept squeezing down with her muscles and shoving back against me.

"You'd know what diamond dogs call their females when they're in heat." I growled and leaned over her. "Bitch." The word had an immediate response from Rainbow. She seemed to push back more, but now she lowered her head. "Head up, bitch."

"Oh my goodness! You shouldn't call her that!" Fluttershy's deep tone stopped us both in our tracks to watch as he rushed over. "Apologize to her this—"

"Fluttershy!" Rainbow tried her best (or so I thought) to look serious as she glared up at her friend from where I'd pinned her down. "He's just followin' my lead. I kinda talked him into it. Kinda. It's okay."

I leaned back a little, slid almost completely out of Rainbow before I shoved forward. "It's dirty-talk, Fluttershy. Some ponies like to be told specific things. They mean nothing about the pony, it's just something they get off to. Right, my slutty little bitch?" The last words, of course, were directed to Rainbow.

"R-Right." Rainbow, at the angle she was at, had her eyes full of something else. She stared at Fluttershy's underside.

"Fluttershy, could you step a little closer?" It was by pure willpower that I wasn't humping away at Rainbow, but if there was one thing being a siren for so many years had taught me, it was patience. "Little closer."

Rainbow got the idea, and when Fluttershy was close enough, she leaned up and nuzzled under his barrel.

"Now take a step forward and let this little bitch get at her prize." I flashed Fluttershy my biggest smile in the hope he'd get the idea.

Looking more than a little indecisive, Fluttershy looked down and under himself, and watched as he stepped forward and gave Rainbow access to his sheath. "Oh goodness! What are you—? R-Rainbow!"

I slowly eased myself back again before delivering a firm thrust. Rainbow's emotion-aura was boiling with lust and desire, so much so that if I were a siren attuned to either, I could have fed well. "What's she doing?"

"Sh-She's licking and nibbling and I—I'm getting—Oh goodness!" I watched, imagining Rainbow's efforts had coaxed Fluttershy's shaft out, and now it was out Rainbow would be servicing it. Fluttershy's wings spread out a little and he gave a low groan, sounding nothing so much as a bunch of old, tight machinery shifting for the first time. He closed his eyes and his wings made little flaps that was just about the cutest thing I'd ever seen.

Okay, time to build up a rhythm again. Adjusting my stance a little, I began a slow rocking motion to drive myself in and pull almost completely out of Rainbow. I set a hoof on the small of her back and let my siren magic just barely leak through me and into her—the tiniest flow that would feel electric.

"What's she—? Ohhh… That feels gooooood." Fluttershy sounded like a stallion getting his first blowjob. I couldn't keep a smile from my face, there was no adoration from either of them yet, but that could change in a heartbeat with the right opportunity.

My thrusting was still not a fast pace, but that was alright with me—the mare under me on the other hoof, not so much. For every thrust I gave, Rainbow's body moved twice, and I knew she'd want me to speed up. "Little bitch wants it faster," I said. "Not sure if little diamond dog bitches get a say in what they get."

The whine that left Rainbow's throat, followed by the slurping noise of her removing her mouth from Fluttershy, was music to my ears. "P-Please? I'll do anything if you speed up. I can't get off like this!"

"Did that sound like proper begging to you?" I asked Fluttershy.

"Oh. Um." Fluttershy had a blush that turned his cheeks a rosy red. "I—um—guess not?"

"Nope. You know how a needy bitch begs properly?" The question didn't need an answer from Rainbow, but I waited for her to whine before replying all the same. "She sucks a stallion dry."

Rainbow now started to thrum with a little adoration, but it was so weak I'd never feed off it. She ducked her head back under Fluttershy, and his eyes almost bulged out of their sockets.

Hunching forward, Fluttershy half closed his eyes and started to rock his hips. He wasn't going to last long, but that's exactly what I wanted.

I kept my pace slow, ensuring that Rainbow Dash had all the incentive she needed to work over Fluttershy. It wasn't long, but it was definitely more than ten seconds. The first I knew of what had happened was Fluttershy's tail flicked upward and Rainbow started gagging.

Reaching forward with a hoof, I planted it between Rainbow's shoulders and pressed down. Her barrel was pressed to the ground and I leaned further on her. "Good bitch. That's how you please your dogs."

I didn't just speed up, I doubled my pace. Each dragged withdrawal was followed quickly by a shove back all the way into Rainbow. I was relentless and, given her sudden moaning, fast enough at last.

Each rapid thrust drew more sounds from Rainbow's throat, and it all culminated in a single moment when I felt her tighten, her body clenching down as tight as it could—I kept my pace.

Rainbow lifted her head as high as she could and howled in pleasure. She squealed and shook, spread her wings and flapped weakly as I drove her through the climax of her lifetime. Only when her back legs gave way and she fell to the ground did I back up and leave her laying in a pile of very happy pegasus. But still there wasn't what I needed to feed.

"How do you know what ponies want like that?" Fluttershy asked, watching his best friend quiver and shake. "She—she didn't even know what she wanted."

"Practice, experience. Also, she told me with more than just her body language. Oh, she's coming around. Give me a moment." Striding around Rainbow in a circle, I finally stopped with my belly just before her face. "Bitch, clean me off, and get me off too."

The rush of adoration came with the touch of her lips to my shaft. She started kissing and licking at me, and I knew that Stereo Mix would have been all over this situation.

"There we go. Good bitch. Good girl." I said, and the adoration flared. I didn't hesitate and drank deeply as my pony form sloughed away. Bigger now, I curled my tail around Rainbow and growled softly to her as she suckled. Again and again I bit into her aura, but even as my reserves filled up, I could never tell where I'd bitten.

Finally, full to the brim with one of the greatest meals I'd ever had, I focused on my pleasure and let loose. Rainbow's mouth bulged and her throat worked, but there was no chance she'd get all of my seed down. I pumped her mouth so full that she started to leak from the corners of her lips, and then she gave up and spluttered.

Rope after rope landed on her face and chest, and I leaned down and started licking her clean.

"Wh—" Rainbow coughed and shook her head. "Holy shit, dude. That was awesome. Uh, why're you licking—? You're cleaning me?"

"Tell me you don't deserve it," I said between licks.

Rainbow Dash snorted and licked at my shaft, which earned her a shudder from me. "Yeah I do. You too, big guy." She licked a few more times, then jerked her head up. "Wait, Fluttershy!"

"He went inside. Your whole submissive thing startled him, I think." I had to really work my tongue through her hair to get all trace of me out of it. She smelled so strongly of me that I found myself purring in the back of my throat as I worked.

"Sirens are pretty weird, but not in a bad way. You—you're cool." Rainbow stood up and shivered. Droplets of thick, musky seed sprayed off what I hadn't managed to clean yet. "I'm gonna head in and see how Fluttershy is. She—he, I guess—usually needs a hug after he's been upset."

Watching her walk away—her back-end swaying and her gait slightly wider than normal—made me smile the most contented smile I'd had for quite some time. I didn't notice my new visitor until he was right beside me.

"Sure Beat, when master told me to keep an eye on you but not interfere between you and the bearers of the Elements of Harmony, I thought he was having a joke. How much do they know about you?"

I turned to look at Smooth Vibes and brought my lips up to his in a light, brotherly (at least for our brotherhood) kiss. "Fluttershy, the stallion, knows everything—even about Feather. Rainbow Dash thinks I'm just another stallion caught between pony and siren."

"She looked tasty." Smooth let out a slow sigh. "What's a poor stallion to do when he can't touch the—"

I groaned and pulled my pony shape on. It came easily, what with all the magic I'd just drunk. I stood up but kept my tail down. "Follow me. I might as well introduce you before Rainbow notices you and attacks."

"But Feather said—"

"Shh. Come on, brother, follow me into temptation." Lifting my tail, I walked with a swaying gait that mimicked what Rainbow had used just moments ago. Walking into Fluttershy's cottage, I found him with a downstairs bathtub on the floor and a blue pegasus in it. "I tried to clean her, but she insisted you needed to do it. Please relax, my friend is here." I gestured to the side as I heard Smooth's hoofsteps. "This is Smooth Vibes, he's like me."

"Another fish?" Rainbow turned her head around to look at Smooth, and I could almost see hearts in her eyes. "You guys are freakin' amazing in the sack."

"To be fair, you've only had one of us." Smooth was just like his namesake, and I could practically see Rainbow's heart beat faster. "Have you ever orgasmed without sex at all?"

"That—" Rainbow shook her head, making Fluttershy's efforts at cleaning her harder. "Look, I'm still getting over the best orgasm of my life. You'll have to ask again in about…"

"Mmm, now?" Smooth asked. "What about now? Or now?" He walked through the living room and toward the kitchen. "How about a cup of… Oh! Tea!"

Fluttershy gave me a significant look, then looked Smooth's way. "How long have you two known each other?"

"For as long as I've been this way. He helped me learn—Sorry if I didn't mention him earlier. A lot of ponies are a little bit suspicious of sirens, and it doesn't help that we're kinda…" I tilted my head to the side.

"Hornballs?" Rainbow Dash asked. "Yeah. Hornballs fits. You guys feed on emotions and all, right? Like changelings?"

"Eww. Not like changelings. Those guys were all take with no give, if you take my meaning." I moved up on the side of Rainbow opposite Fluttershy and bent to the task of cleaning her up.

"S-So you help ponies feel good in trade for—for food?" Fluttershy asked.

"Sounds like prostitution." Rainbow leaned into my touch, and to be fair, I was good at giving sensual bath massages.

I shrugged as I worked the suds into Rainbow's coat. "I don't have a problem with it. To be honest, I quite enjoy making ponies very happy."

Fluttershy got up and walked toward the stairs, taking them up toward the bedrooms and bathroom.

"But you—"

"But we." I could help smiling at that. There was more than enough stallion in me that enjoyed having been with several of the most powerful ponies in Equestria in such a short amount of time. My mind wandered a little, and I couldn't help but imagine how I'd insinuate myself into Pinkie Pie's bed.

"Well, it was you who wanted something out of it." She lifted her tail as my hoof worked down to her rump.

Stroking her croup a few times, I watched her tail lift a little more each time. "Seems to me like we all wanted something out of it, Rainbow Dash. I was just a little more up front about what I was getting."

By the time my hoof reached her tail and actually began working on working suds into her dock, the little length was curled up sharply. "It was kinda obvious what I was getting. I've wanted to be closer to Fluttershy for—" Rainbow closed her mouth as my hoof worked some soap under her dock. "Do you have to clean there?"

"Yes," I said. "Yes I do." My tone wasn't truly dominant, but it was knocking on dominant's door insistantly. "Lift your tail back up."

Rainbow didn't complain any further, just lifted her tail and let out a little sigh as I went back to cleaning her. "This is different, of course. She's a lot more forward like this. Is that your doing?" She sounded a little worried. I wondered if her worry was what she'd be forced to do if I said yes.

"No. That's confidence. He's bigger, stronger, and has all the will of a stallion—is what I'd say to someone who doesn't care about Fluttershy. Like this, Fluttershy is living a fantasy he didn't realize he even wanted. When a pony is so deep in their fantasy, they can do things they never would normally." My hoof strayed down over her tailhole, and I leaned forward to speak into Rainbow's ear. "Do ponies she would never normally do."

"You're saying she won't want me no—ooooow." She lost her train of thought mid sentence after I'd gotten some clean water on a soft sponge and started washing her vulva. She stood perfectly still, tail raised, letting me wash her privates. "How often do you do this?"

"Sex?" I asked, mostly to hear her try to explain herself.

"I kinda assumed you do that frequently. I meant this. I could swear you're better at this than Aloe or Lotus." She relaxed a little more now I was done cleaning her privates. The pants of her rump were next, and I soaped up and rinsed them down.

My thoughts strayed back to Bath Salts. "You'd be surprised how often it comes up. A very nice mare trained me. She knows more about this than I'm likely to ever learn." Possibly a lie, possibly not. I'd washed many mares, and was likely to wash a lot more before I was done with life.

"Well, take the compliment and like it. It's not just every stallion I'd let wash me like this."

"I bet you'd let Fluttershy wash you like this," I said and nibbled gently on her ear. The wave of arousal that flowed out of her was akin to diving into the ocean—only this ocean I could swim without fear of attack.

"Y-Yeah…"

I let my magic wash out this time. The power thrummed in the air, ready to do my will. "He'd hold you, stroke you, dribble warm water over you. Let me make you cry out, Rainbow Dash, let me make your cries call to him."

While my hoof rose back up the back of Rainbow's legs, she leaned her whole body back just a little.

"Tell me anytime and I'll stop." I don't know if it was part of me that was still pony, or just part of me, but making sure she wanted this too was still important to me. All she managed was the slightest nod, but it was enough. I brought my wing around and clamped a primary feather above and below her mouth, pinning her jaws closed while my hoof began to rub her. "Struggle, and I stop, whimper and whine, and I will only go faster."

"Mmmmm…" Rainbow arched her spine and her tail followed suit.

Holding her snout shut, I began to stroke and rub her. I hadn't had so much fun playing with a mare for quite a while as I'd had here with her, and it reminded me how much I'd enjoyed others—all the way back to my first.

"Fluttershy!"

I'd been so distracted that I hadn't realized that Rainbow was that close or that she'd managed to pull her snout free. Her cry, however, was music to my ears. She sounded hungry, happy, and desirous, something confirmed by the not-water coating my hoof.

"Is something wro—" Fluttershy's deep voice, warped in concern, stopped dead as he looked down at us while coming down the stairs. His eyes widened a little in surprise. "I'll just—"

"Fluttershy, can you come over?" Rainbow Dash asked.

It was a magic moment, but one I'd orchestrated. I could have said something, but I think the pair finally got what they wanted with each other, and I saw Fluttershy's concerned look break into a smile. I stood up and stepped away from Rainbow. "I really should be going."

Neither Fluttershy nor Rainbow even acknowledged me—each was gazing at the other.

Was this what it meant to be a siren? To really be a siren? I walked out of the house, fluffing my wings and smiling. "I wonder what Pinkie Pie's up to?"

Soft And Pink

All along the path back to Ponyville, it was impossible to wipe the smile off my face. I was out to strut. I was mostly full of magic (I had used a little magic to get Rainbow back in the mood) and I felt like I could take anything o—

"Hi there!" Pinkie Pie's voice cut through my musings like a white-hot lance through anything. She pronked toward me. "You know, I just had the strangest feeling. I just got done baking for the day, and my tail started to squirm and my left back leg started to twitch. Now, normally that's a sure sign that somethings up with Fluttershy, but then my nose wiggled and my belly rumbled—that normally means Rainbow Dash. But then they both happened at once, and the only time that happened was when Fluttershy's brother was having all that trouble. But then I got the oddest one ever. You see, my butt squirmed left and right, then bounced up and down—here, I'll show you."

I'd completely forgotten the intensity of Pinkie Pie. I don't know how I'd managed such a feat, but as I watched her turn around and start waving her butt at me, I started to wonder if she had an ulterior motive.

"See! It happened just like this! And the only time this ever happened was when Big Mac was in trouble." My blood ran cold as Pinkie turned back around. She tilted her head to the side. "So, what's up, Mac?"

This could be bad. Fluttershy could keep a secret until the end of the universe, mostly because she—he—didn't tend to talk much. Pinkie Pie would have a lot more trouble with that unless…

"Pinkie Pie, it's been a while since I was here, I know, but can you promise me not to tell anypony else?" Though I was looking at her face, I couldn't help but see her butt in my mind's eye, like when a flash of magic goes off and you have sparkly after-effects in your vision. Closing my eyes, I had to ask for the only thing that might have any hope of keeping Pinkie Pie from telling the whole world who I was. "Would you Pinkie Promise?"

She looked at me with all the shrewdness of a great negotiator. "You're not part of some evil plot to take over Equestria, are you?" How she flicked from apparent air-head to genius I had no idea, but she seemed to do it multiple times a second, usually—now she was all seriousness.

"Take over Equestria? No. Pinkie Pie, all I ever want to do is make ponies happy." It was utter truth and from my heart. "Cross my heart—" her eyes went wide as I spoke, "—and hope to fly. Stick a cupcake—in—my—eye."

"You are McIntosh Apple." Pinkie Pie was upon me before even my siren senses could catch her moving. Like a mountain colliding against me, I had no hope of withstanding her hug or kisses. "Your sisters will be so—" She froze. "But the promise…"

"They can't know, Pinkie."

"But—But—But…" Hanging her head, Pinkie let out a sigh. "Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye." There was no enthusiasm or motivation in her words. With her still staring at the ground, her mane looking markedly less frizzy, I stepped forward so that when she raised her head to see what I was doing, I kissed her.

Pinkie's lips tasted of frosting—but I'd expected that. She looked at me wide-eyed and with a little confusion until I pushed my tongue forward. Her lips parted slowly to let me in and her eyes turned from confused to excited. Pinkie Pie's mane frizzed up to normal, and she bounced up and down (ruining the end of the kiss). "Wowee! You're good at that!"

"I've had a little practice." I blinked what I knew were pretty eyelashes at her. "Would you like another sample?"

There was a few moments of her staring at me seemingly incomprehensible as to my question, then Pinkie giggled. She giggled a lot. "McIntosh, is there a reason they call you Big Mac?"

"My name's Sure Beat now, Pinkie, and you can be sure I aim to please." It was as smooth a line as I could come up with, and since it earned me another giggle I considered it well spent. "Do you notice anything different about me?"

"You mean apart from the wings, your legs, your mane, your tail, your face, your eyes, your coat, and your voice? Nope!" More giggles spilled from Pinkie's mouth and she tossed her mane to the opposite side. "You're a lot cuter this way, Sure Beat."

That was a compliment I could relish for what it was. I leaned forward and kissed her cheek this time. "Is there somewhere a certain party pony would like to go to share some personal time with an old friend?"

She froze in place, eyes widening. "Hold up. You made me promise not to tell anypony else, but we could have a special Welcome Back to Ponyville party with just the two of us, right?" Her smile turned into something I'd never seen on Pinkie's face before, a very naughty/hungry expression, and it was aimed at me.

Using my wiles? She was wily enough for both of us, I think. "Pinkie Pie, if you want to have a party with me, I'll not say no. Weren't you and Applejack a—"

"It didn't really work out. About six years ago we kinda-sorta stopped doing fillyfriend stuff and started just being friends with benefits. I was kinda into stallions, and so was she, and we both had a pretty poopy time not being with one—not that there weren't high points." She turned, aligning herself at my side and aiming her snout toward town. "Don't worry, Sure Beat, there's nopony going to pine for ol' Pinkie Pie finding a cute stallion."

"How did she take it?" I had to ask.

Pinkie bounced at my side, leading the way—but not to Sugarcube Corner. "Applejack? She was relieved, I think. We still do things together, but there's less pressure, and she can find a guy for a night if she wants without feeling guilty."

"Are you sure?" It still shocked me at how much changed in the years I'd been away.

"I don't need to Pinkie Promise about this, do I?"

I laughed and kissed her cheek again. "No. I'll take your word for it. You don't live at Sugarcube Corner anymore?"

"With the twins growing up, I couldn't really do it. They needed my bedroom, and I really needed my own bedroom—if you know what I mean." I knew what she meant, her eye waggles weren't strictly required, but they earned some giggles. "I've been sharing a house with Derpy. Ever since Dinky moved out and started school in Canterlot, she's had a spare room to rent."

Derpy was the most complicated simple pony in all Equestria. My memories of her, growing up, were of a pegasus mare that had lost her parents just as she became an adult and looked after her little sister. To look at her, you'd hardly imagine there could be a more silly pony, but looks were always deceiving. You just needed to see anypony's scrapbook of newspaper clippings to know that Derpy Hooves has a hero several times over.

The sound of a door opening caught me by surprise. I'd been wool-gathering the entire way through town and was surprised to see the front door of Derpy's (and apparently Pinkie's too) house open in front of me. Pinkie was standing in the doorway, looking back over her shoulder at me. "I asked if you wanted to come inside, Sure Beat. Were you so distracted by my tail you couldn't think straight?"

I grinned and walked a bit closer, invading her personal space and putting my breast almost against her rump. "Something like that." Stepping the last little bit, I pressed my coat firmly against her rump in the style of a stallion ready to mount a mare.

Rather than squeal and run inside, Pinkie held still for a moment, looking back at me with hunger in her eyes. I hadn't cornered prey—she knew exactly what she wanted. Just as I thought I'd have to mount her in public, Pinkie walked forward with her frizzy tail bouncing high.

Advancing into the home, I carefully closed the door behind me before looking around for Pinkie. All I noticed of her was her tail disappearing into what I assumed was the kitchen. Giving chase was the only acceptable thing to do under the circumstances. "Why are you in the kitchen?"

"Because I need to bake you a cake, silly. Can't have a Welcome Back to Ponyville party without a cake." She was whipping something up in a bowl held under one foreleg, using her other to flick a whisk quickly.

There was a vibe about Pinkie Pie, a promise that she was up to something I'd enjoy. I wanted her to enjoy it too, though. Marching right up to her, I reached out with my wing to grab her forehoof and lift the whisk to my lips. Licking along it, tasting sugar and cream, I let out a low grunt of approval. "Cake? I was more interested in Pie."

A shiver very visibly ran up from Pinkie's tail all the way to the back of her neck, then to her ears that twitched a few times and slowly folded backwards like a pair of sails without wind.

"Was that Pinkie Sense?" I asked.

"Mmhmm. That's the sign that I just got really turned on." She delivered her words with such normality that I had to review them to realize she was being literal. Food, it seemed, was Pinkie Pie's thing.

Carefully taking the bowl from her grasp, I claimed the whisk too and started going to town on the cream. "Perhaps I can help turn your oven on some more?" Being a siren, at least how Feather had taught me to be one, was far more about listening and watching than beguiling with magic. Pinkie's eyes were on the bowel as I worked the cream in it, and I could see her biting her lip—as if there was something she wanted to say but couldn't.

Lifting the whisk out of the bowl, I offered it to Pinkie to taste—she was the baker here, after all, and would know better than me if it was right. When she carefully extended her tongue to lick the whisk, I let her taste it, but also dobbed her nose with some cream.

Before her tongue could reach up to lick at the cream, I leaned forward and kissed her nose to get it for myself. Her eyes seemed to bore into me, absorbing everything I was doing. "Hungry?"

She nodded to me, then shook her head. "What did you just do?"

"Me? I like to think I was doing a good job of warming your oven."

"Keep whisking that. The cake's in the oven, but I need that cream whipped for a topping." It was like Pinkie had snapped out of a spell. She was suddenly all professional and in motion. Though the smell of cake from the actual oven was growing, there was another smell that my sharp senses had picked up. My words and actions had done what I wanted them to, she smelled on-point.

Pinkie cut up strawberries and got out yet one more topping—a thick apple jam. By the time I had the cream whipped and she had the other toppings prepared, the oven timer went off and she lifted the cake from the oven with a pair of mittens.

As Pinkie leaned down to get the cake from the oven—balancing on two legs—I brushed under her tail with my primary feathers. Pinkie jumped and the cake bounced into the air.

"Sure Beat!"

The cake, however, was descending without any sign that Pinkie realized it was going to hit the floor at a terminal velocity that would result in cake destruction. There was only one thing I could do.

My power thrummed through me as I sent my will out and caught the cake. It did more than catch the cake, however, my body unfurled and shattered the illusion that I was just a pony.

Pinkie was staring at me, mouth agape, before she raised a hoof and pointed. "W-W-What are you?!"

Floating her cake before her eyes, I set it down on the cooling rack she'd had ready for it. "Somefish who enjoys your cake too much to let it hit the ground from his own silly mistake."

Turning her head, Pinkie watched as I set the cake down on the cooling rack, then looked down to the floor, and finally up to me. I'd just managed to set the cake down and let go of it when she pounced at me and hugged me around the neck. There was a lot of things a siren could do with their strength, but standing up to a pony like Pinkie Pie was not one of them.

Tumbling backwards, I landed on my back with Pinkie atop me, still with her forelegs around my neck. "P-Pinkie!"

Uncomfortable as the position was for me, I was aware of the gusts of pure happiness that poured off Pinkie—it wasn't a meal to me, but it was more pleasant than most emotions. Curling my head, I nuzzled at her neck and mane.

The touch of her lips to the gem in my chest froze me completely, and when her tongue tracked over it I let out a low, whimpering moan. Few were the partners who'd paid attention to my gem. Trust Pinkie to find out it was sensitive.

"You saved my cake at the cost of your disguise." It was like she knew all my erogenous zones the moment she'd seen me. She licked my gem again and rubbed a spot between my foreleg and my torso that had me squirming like an eel. "Now this party pony needs to show her appreciation… while the cake cools enough to dress."

I realized what she was doing only when Pinkie slid her body down mine and her belly met mine. I wasn't that excited yet, though some rocking of her body was having a pretty big effect.

"This souffle hasn't quite risen yet. There's only one cure for that." Pinkie slid back further, but as she did her tail did something strange—it hooked under my still flaccid shaft and lifted it up just right for her to back onto.

My eyes flew open and I shivered as my length pushed with a squelch into the entrance of her cavern.

"A souffle only rises in an oven, silly." Pinkie Pie, it seemed, was well prepared to follow through on the food theme. "Now, normally a souffle only rises if left alone, but I find a little kneading is usually in order." And knead she did. The muscles just inside her vulva squeezed and teased at me, coaxing my shaft to grow into her—since it had nowhere else to go.

"Now, we have to be quick. A souffle grows quickly and is gone again just as fast. Besides, we have a cake to eat." To my delight, she started to rock herself atop me. Pinkie rocked her hips and kept up the intense massage on my fully hard shaft, while she studied my face with a big smile.

"Pie," I said. When she looked at me funny, I smiled a toothy grin up at her. "I'm going to eat Pie."

"Eat pie?" Sounding out of breath, Pinkie was rocking faster and faster.

More than happy to let her have her fun, I instead opted to coax her on. "Naturally. Once I've given it a creamy filling, I'll slurp and eat it all up. Out, too."

Pinkie Pie giggled through several of her thrusts. "But if you eat all my pie, what will be left for little ol' me?"

"Maybe I could make you a—a Hearth's Warming log cake?" It was the best thing I could think of under the circumstances, but from the look in Pinkie's eyes it was good enough. "I'm sure a—a mare like you could—could gobble that all—all…"

She'd done it. She'd defeated a siren by the simple act of being herself. I arched my spine and curved my body up against Pinkie and felt my essence swirl and gather inside. Eating from her was furthest from my mind as my beast was sated for now merely with feeding her my souffle.

"All of it. Give Pinkie your sweet, sweet cream. Yessss…" Pinkie was still in motion. I could see her eyes closing as her grin widened, and she clenched down on me tighter than ever. "All… Cream…"

I wrapped my forelegs around her back and pinned Pinkie to my body. The last thing I wanted right now was her getting excitable again. I froze, however, at the sound of the front door opening and closing, then hooves approaching the kitchen.

We both turned our heads in time to see a light violet unicorn with a golden mane looking at us with her mouth open. She looked in her twenties, and her eyes soon traveled down my body and back up—then down again. Her horn lit up with a cyan aura, and I felt the grip of something (and it didn't take much effort to figure out what) close carefully around my balls. "Aunt Pinkie, is this siren bothering you?"

"You're a siren? Oh! Those are the things Twilight told us she had to fight in that crazy other place. She said sirens were all nasty." Tilting her head to look up at the new arrival, Pinkie let out a giggle. "Dinky, he's a friend. A friendly friend. We were making a cake, then a souffle needed to rise, and then—"

My brain clicked as to who the mare was now. Dinky Doo, Derpy's little sister.

"There hasn't been any sirens seen in Equestria for quite some time. Princess Twilight will want to know about you. You're not even fully grown." Dinky let up her grip, not that she'd done more than make sure I knew what she could do. "There's more of you? What made you?"

Leaning forward and rising, Pinkie slid herself off me and stood up.

The sudden cool air on my shaft made me wince a little, but it was more than made up for by the satisfaction I'd felt from the sex. "I won't answer that."

"Now listen here, Dinky. Is that any way to talk to B—" freezing, Pinkie looked down at me and cleared her throat, "… to a friend?"

"But Pinkie Pie! Sirens twist pony minds. They drain them and leave weak husks behind, or drive them into a frenzy and cause them to go wild! You can't be friends with a siren, because they're monsters!" Dinky gestured at me with an emphatic hoof. "He's already making you think he's your friend!"

"Excuse me?" I asked.

"He is my friend, Dinky. Can't you see he's just being nice. I invited him in to have some snuggle time. You think I can't handle one snuggly-wuggily-fishy siren on my own?"

"Sorry to interrupt…" I said, trying to get a word in.

"That's just it. Siren's get into your head and make you want to do things. Things like this! You could no more have agreed to sex with him than you could leave him to my justice. He got to you—Where are you going?!" Dinky had seen me try to roll away and get up. Her horn lit to do something to me, but died again when Pinkie jumped in the way. "Out of the way before it escapes!"

"I just want to use the bathroom to clean up. I'm a bit of a mess." I looked over Pinkie's back, the only way I had any hope of seeing past all her frizzy mane. It actually looked extra frizzy, for some reason.

"Second door down the hall on your right. Don't take too long, we need to dress this cake so you can have some Pie," Pinkie said before turning back to Dinky. "And you leave him alone. He was being perfectly nice, even after you threatened him. That's not how you make friends."

Discretion might have been the better part of valor, but I wasn't stupid enough to jump out the window and run. I reestablished my pony shape quickly and headed for the hallway. Jilting Pinkie Pie would be just about the stupidest thing ever, and it would only justify in Dinky's mind that I was up to no good. Well, I wasn't up to no good as such, but I wasn't exactly of pure and innocent motives either. Climbing into the shower, I turned the water on and had to fight the urge to turn back into my siren-self.

The sound of shouting barely got over the volume of the shower, but it did nonetheless. Two voices started the argument, but by the time I was turning the taps off there was only one remaining. The same one who'd made so many bad cooking puns that I really wanted to eat her all up.

Confrontation

Clean and dried, I walked down the hall to the sound of… breathing. Nothing else. Twenty years ago I would have been surprised to be able to hear ponies breathe from a room away—now it was perfectly natural and if I focused I'd hear their heartbeats too.

There was little point hiding myself, though I didn't want yet another pony to walk in and find Pinkie and Dinky chatting with a siren. So, opting for my usual look, I shivered a little as I spent some precious energy enacting my form before I stepped into the room.

Dinky looked at me, narrowed her eyes, then looked back at Pinkie as if Pinkie had just told her the Great Seedling wasn't real. Pinkie, however, seemed to be doing her best to ignore Dinky and look at me, and Pinkie's best was pretty darned good.

"All better?" Pinkie Pie asked.

Her eyes kept flicking between my back legs. It was something ponies in polite company didn't do, but what Pinkie wanted to do with me was far removed from polite.

"Yeah. How'd your cake handle it?" I noticed the spare armchair to one side and made my way over to it. Climbing up on the couch, I settled myself as best I could.

"Why are you really here?" Dinky asked.

She was persistent, I'll give her that. "We're predators. We feed off ponies."

Dinky jumped to her hooves and pointed at me with one foreleg expressively. "Ah ha! I told you, Pinkie! You seem flush with magic—who have you fed off?"

"Dinky!" Pulling a muffing from her mane, Pinkie tossed it to Dinky. "Eat this, you're way too hangry. Also, a gentlecolt doesn't tell who he's"—Pinkie giggled—"fed off. Wait, is it gentlecolt or gentlefish?"

"I'll take either," I said.

"Then I have no other option than to report you to Princess Twilight." Dinky had all the vehemence of a pony who had never had to face a monster without powerful magic on her side. "She's currently in her castle here in Ponyville."

I looked at Pinkie for help, but she shrugged and gestured to Dinky. "I guess I need to get this over with, then. Would it be okay if I fly back to our wagon and get something?"

"And run away, never to be seen again? Of course not!"

"I didn't want it to come to this, but you've left me no choice." I turned and looked at Pinkie first, then leveled my gaze upon Dinky Hooves. A look of fear touched at her features as I continued to just look at her. "I'll only go to my wagon and get one object, then I'll meet up with you at the front door of Twilight's castle. Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye."

A gasp cut the air as I finished. Pinkie Pie rushed over to me and held my cheeks while staring into my eyes. "Y-You can't back out of that! All you had to do was run away and you'd be safe! Why—A Pinkie Promise?!"

"Because I have friends and family who believe in me, and despite all I've heard about Twilight's history with sirens, I don't think she'll do anything without thinking first." I'd sealed my fate—maybe—but I'd eked out enough time for me to warn Feather and the others. "But I'd like you to promise—to Pinkie Promise—that you won't tell Twilight until I get there."

Pinkie's head swiveled around until she looked at Dinky.

"Oh, alright. I won't tell Princess Twilight about you being a siren before you get to her castle or it's obvious you aren't coming. Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye." All the while she held my look as if daring me to gainsay her extra bit.

I let the room hang in ominous silence for a few seconds longer than was comfortable for anyone before breaking into a big smile. "Perfect! I'll just go get my thing. Last time I spoke to Twilight, she'd told me I needed to bring it back."

Dinky stared at me in surprise while Pinkie seemed barely able to contain a giggle fit.

Turning for the door, I arched my tail and put on as prancing a gait as I could. It was all show. I was terrified of what Twilight would do when I tell her the truth, but a siren was nothing if not a consummate performer.

As soon as I was out the door, however, I felt the dread of what was to come settle in tight around me. Princess Twilight Sparkle—ruler of Equestria. A lot had happened while I was away from Ponyville.

I made a beeline for the wagon and—as I reached it—I saw Feather sitting casually at the back door. He looked so relaxed I almost dreaded what I had to tell him. "Feather!"

"What have you done now, booked an appointment with Princess Twilight Sparkle herself?"

"Yes."

Feather Bangs let out a disappointed sigh. "I like your style, Sure Beat, but you've gone too far. We're leaving now, and we'll not come back to Ponyville for a few hundred years, I think."

"You should go, but I have to do this."

"No you don't. You are a siren, Sure Beat. You are my siren. When I tell you to come with—You realize you have another of the Element Bearers following you? What on the waves did you do?" Feather had stopped moving. It wasn't the "stopped moving" that a pony will do when they want to chat—he was barely even breathing he'd stilled so much.

"Hi!" Pinkie Pie had slipped up beside me without me hearing her. It was uncanny how she moved so quietly, but it was something I was at least somewhat familiar with. "You must be another siren. Sure Beat needs to collect something, then he's coming to visit Twilight with me. Don't worry, I won't show her where to find you before you can get away."

Feather noticeably jerked in surprise. "I can't give myself the hope that you're the bearer of the Element of Honesty?"

"No, silly, I'm Pinkie Pie. So what was the important thing you need B—Sure Beat?" She turned to look at me. "Do you have an overdue book?" The sudden fear in Pinkie's voice actually made me chuckle.

"No, Pinkie. The opposite of an overdue book." I walked into the wagon and to my own little drawer of precious things. Opening it, I lifted out the slip of light cardboard and carried it between two feathers of my wing.

When I stepped back outside, I could see Pinkie and Feather having a staring contest. "I was inside for ten seconds and you two are about to—"

"You blinked!" Feather's grin was surprising to me, but not as much as his laughter. "Now you have to come with us and teach me baking too!"

Okay, so I might have been more than ten seconds, but this was ridiculous. I looked at Pinkie Pie and saw only a huge smile. There was no guile or attempt at deception. "Let's go to the castle before Dinky can claim I broke my promise."

"She better not! I'll be so cross if she breaks her Pinkie promise. They're meant to be completely and stupendously true… forever." Turning to look at Feather again, Pinkie gave him a nod. "If Twilight gets angry for some reason, I'll launch a bunch of blue fireworks, okay? I'll make sure he meets you south of town."

I stared at Pinkie. Everything was going too far. "Pinkie, you can't promise that. If Twilight is—" I was cut short by a pink hoof pressed to my lips.

"Shhh. You just leave the worrying to Pinkie Pie. Now, let's go talk to our friend."

The castle of friendship was imposing. Well, it wasn't, but it sounded better to me if the castle itself was the thing to be afraid of, and not the alicorn princess within.

"Go on. Knock."

I turned my head to look at Pinkie Pie. She might be all that stood between me and oblivion. Raising a hoof, I knocked on the door three times. "Oh, well, she's not home. I fulfilled my promise, so now I can—"

The door didn't creak, but rather it opened easily and revealed a mound of muscle, claws, fangs, and scales in purple and soft green. Spike had grown since I'd last seen him. He was now about five ponies long from his nose to his tail, and by the look of it he was stuck mostly on all fours. His eyes flicked from me to Pinkie Pie, and his mouth curved into a smile. "Pinkie! Come inside! Who's your friend?"

"He's an old friend, he wanted to come and talk to Twilight about something. Spike, this is Sure Beat." Pinkie trotted in with no hint of fear of the adult dragon just inside. To be honest, I wasn't exactly afraid of Spike. I used to play Ogres and Oubliettes with him so much, but it was hard to connect that baby dragon with this one.

I took two steps forward and spotted Pinkie's tail go rigid, then wrap into a corkscrew, then she bounced three times on all fours before spinning around to look at me.

"Wait!"

Her warning came a moment too late. The instant my hoof had touched the polished floor of the inside of Twilight's castle, an alarm started going off and, to my literal shock, my disguise evaporated. The shock was literal because some kind of spell had jolted me as it banished my disguise.

Every instinct screamed at me to run. I was a siren, yes, but I wasn't an old siren—and I'd really like the chance to be. So I began to spin on the spot when a loud POMF sounded. Nope, I wasn't getting away.

"Stop right there. What are you?" Twilight Sparkle's voice was a little deeper than I remember it.

As I turned back to face her, I saw her take an involuntary step backwards as my gemstone became visible to her. "A very silly siren, it seems."

Pinkie Pie moved before Twilight managed to get a word out. Faster than I could follow, she imposed herself between me and Twilight. "Twilight, don't do anything rash. Sure Beat isn't like those nasty sirens you dealt with on the other side of the mirror. Tell her, Sure. Tell her you don't use your magic on ponies!"

Not the best wording. I hung my head. "I do. I use my magic on ponies every day."

Looking over her shoulder at me in shock, Pinkie blinked a few times. "But—But you're nice!"

"Pinkie, please step out of my way so I can deal with him. We can't allow sirens to invade Equestria again. Not since the Pillars sent the Dazzlings to the mirror world has a siren walked the land of Equestria. What do you have to say for yourself?" Twilight towered over us, and I had a sense of dread that I couldn't take her on in either physical or magical combat.

"There's only one thing I can do, Your Highness. I'd like to borrow a book." As I said the last words, I flicked out my wing and made the little piece of card visible. "A friend gave me this a long time ago and promised I could come back and use it."

The slip was showing its age. Reddish-raspberry light glowed around it and plucked it out from between my feathers. Seeing it float over to her was like having party of myself stolen—part of my pony self.

The library card had been something of my old life. No, it had been the last something of my old life. Twilight had promised me I'd always be welcome so long as I had it, and now she'd taken it from me.

"This library card belonged to a friend. What did you do to him?" Twilight's voice was hard. She glared at me with more steel in her eyes than I'd seen when she'd fought Tirek after he'd destroyed her library.

"I-I was him." The words were so small and so weak. I wondered how I'd been keeping them alive within me for so long. "Th-That's what I was leaving to do. F—" I almost said Feather Bangs. I'd almost given my love away. "I don't hurt ponies."

She looked at me with an incredible stare that seemed to cut me open and examine every part. I felt like she would discover all the bad things I'd done and pore over them. I wanted to panic and run, but that would be insane. Princess Twilight Sparkle was faster than I could ever hope to be, and running would be a sure indication of my guilt in—in whatever she thought I'd done.

"I want to believe you." Twilight sounded perplexed. She looked at me for a moment longer before she gestured to the hallway beyond. "If you're serious about borrowing a book, please come to my library."

Yeah. Running away would be the most insane option, but following the ruler of Equestria deeper into her castle is a close second. Feather never managed to teach me to be rational. I stepped forward, letting my tail and body shift with each step in the natural sway I'd learned was just how half-sirens walked. "You gave me that card."

"I figured that much out. How long does this process take?" Twilight was a sight to behold be it standing over you or walking away. Actually, from my angle, walking away was a nicer view. Maybe that's just the hedonist in me talking.

"Becoming a siren? A hundred years. I'm about a fifth of the way there." Despite my situation, I felt joy enter my voice at the thought of the change. I was becoming a siren, a beautiful siren, and nothing in the world would change that.

"I am not completely familiar with the process, but I believe I could halt i—" Twilight stopped speaking (and walking) because I'd stopped. She turned her head and looked at me, one eyebrow raised. "But that's not what you want. Where's the siren that did this to you, McInto—"

I lowered my head and looked at the ground. "That's not my name anymore. I—I hated everything that name stood for. McIntosh Apple was a pony trapped by his love for his family, his own body, and the expectations of others. Sure Beat is a stallion who makes his own waves, who is exactly who he wants to be—or is on the path to be." When I'd started crying, I had no idea, but it was a single feather of Twilight's big wing that brushed one of my cheeks and alerted me to it.

"Okay, but that was you?"

I had to look up at Twilight, sniffed sharply to try to clear my head, and nodded. "Eeyup." It was the first time I'd used that countryism—or any countryism—for quite some time. "He gave me everything. He promised me everything, that is, and he's delivering. When ponies look at me, when I look back, they want to be near the cute, handsome stallion who can move and dance and wear pretty things."

"You went to a lot of work to wear pretty things and dance, Sure Beat, but that was your choice to make. A choice I can respect, if not understand." Twilight turned back and started walking again. "I don't suppose you read the latest version of Surprising Suspects?"

"I've read a version of it. Even read the section on sirens. It was a little lacking." I couldn't help myself. I might not be mercurial exactly, but I didn't like to dwell on a sad moment if I wasn't going to be forced to. "Would you like help with that?"

"Would you actually help me with that? With—With all you know?" Twilight sounded hungry, and it was a hunger anypony (or anyfish) who'd spent a good bit of time in Ponyville knew. Twilight Sparkle, even before becoming the princess of friendship, devoured information.

"No." I didn't want the word to hang in the air too long. "Not without asking those I would be harming with it."

"So there's more of you here, in Equestria."

"I said I'll talk to them. The sirens outside Equestria, like the ones that attacked Vanhoover not long ago, I'll give you all the information you want about those." I almost spat the last word out, and almost considered with the sort of language Feather would be upset I used—to say nothing of using it in front of a princess.

Leading the wait up the stairs that led to the library, Twilight made a curious sound. "You know about that attack? I saw the reports myself, a whole gang of sirens driven back into the ocean by the bravery of our guardpo—"

"By us. Sirens are territorial, Princess. The siren who made me what I am has gone to great lengths to claim all of Equestria as his hunting grounds. Any siren that poaches here will get hunted down." I didn't like cutting in on her, but after what I went through, I couldn't stand listening to whatever somepony had misreported.

"'Hunting grounds'? So you admit you hunt ponies for food?" At the top of the stairs, she led the way down a familiar hall toward her library.

"Of course ponies give us food, but we give something else back. We love them, we let them have whatever their hearts desire, we trade dreams for—for adoration." I probably shouldn't have told her that, or any of what I was saying, but I needed to tell Twilight all this before she got an even worse opinion of us than she already had of sirens in general. "Yes, we feed off adoration. The Dazzlings? They fed off anger. The ones in VanHoover? I baited them out and had to watch as they fed off a pony's helplessness. They were monsters, Princess, they gave nothing in return."

"What do you give ponies?" She seemed to just accept that we were the ones who fought them off. Did she question the reports too?

"Whatever they want. May I have permission to use a little magic on you?"

"You'd normally ask a pony permission to do this?"

"No. I'd wait until they gave me permission to do whatever I wanted, and then I'd try to read them in other ways first before resorting to this."

Twilight walked in silence all the rest of the way to her library. Opening the big doors with her magic, she walked inside and left me to close them. Until I saw what was padding up the hallway after us.

Spike wasn't the little dragon I'd played O&O with all those years ago. When he turned at the open doorway, I jumped aside to let him past. And past. And past. Sweet Celestia he was huge!

"Excuse me, Twilight?" Spike flicked his tail as he finally passed the doorway, which perfectly swung both the doors closed after him.

"Yes, Spike?"

"I'd like to sit in. I don't trust anycreature that tries to sneak into my castle without telling me who they are first." Spike coiled himself up on a small mountain of cushions in the middle of the room. "Uh, what is it again? Pinkie said she wouldn't tell me."

"He's about a quarter siren, Spike. His name's Sure Beat, and he doesn't seem to want to hurt me, though he thinks he can find out what my heart desires with some simple magic." Twilight's eyes locked onto mine and I had to wonder who was the predator here.

"He better not. Siren magic doesn't work that good on dragons, or so we found. I was only a little dog last time we fought some, but I think I might be better at it now." To punctuate his point, Spike brought his teeth together with a clashing sound that reminded me that even if Twilight pretended she was a predator, Spike was the real deal.

"If you want, later, I could help you spar. If—If you want to," I said.

"For now, Sure Beat, I give you permission to use limited magic on me. Nothing that will try to alter my mind or I will push back. Understand?" It was a relief to realize she still considered me dangerous.

It didn't take much effort to spin a wisp of my magic from my gem—it practically wanted to jump out. I put my will into what I wanted from it and let it flow over my senses. She looked… "Peace. Safety. Knowledge. Friendship." I blinked a few times and tilted my head. "I hardly needed my magic to see that." I looked deeper, explored her, and found something.

Walking with all the grace Feather's gifts had given me, I circled around where Twilight stood, not intending to touch her until I'd done a few laps. On the third I reached out with a hoof to stroke Twilight's shoulder.

The lavender fur under my hoof twitched once, but when my touch firmed it stilled and I began to rub the muscles there. "Lay down for me. I can't do this with you standing."

"Y-You're not using the magic on me directly. You used it on yourself so you could—Ohhhh…"

I followed her movements as Twilight sank slowly to the floor, positioning myself over her back. I shifted my weight onto my back legs and tail and lifted my other forehoof up to her back and started to massage in earnest, only to find a single talon slide around along my throat. "I'm not hurting her."

"I've seen creatures cause more harm without hurting than with." Spike's voice was flat, as if he were preparing himself mentally to do something he'd later dislike. "Twilight? Are you okay with this?"

"I want to give him a chance to show he's good, Spike. I don't think he can feed off me, not unless I let him. I want to see if he's a monster or a friend." Twilight didn't even look back to see Spike remove his blade-like claw from my throat. "If you want to stay, you may, but try not to interrupt him."

Spike blew out an annoyed breath, or at least I think it was annoyed. With my focus on Twilight I wasn't going to be as good at reading others around me. The best indication he was annoyed was, of course, twin plumes of smoke that left his nostrils. "I'll go have a bath. If I find out you hurt Twilight in any way, I'll find you again." The words were casual and could have been about wanting to return some sugar he'd borrowed. I had no doubt that he would follow through on the very real threat if I so much as plucked a hair from Twilight's coat.

Waiting for Spike to leave, I returned to the massage once the doors closed. "He's angry at me," I said.

"And me. He's not dealing with growing out as well as he thought he would. While he was still bipedal, he could still be my shining knight. Now he sees himself more and more as a true dragon. I hoped giving him a castle and a hoard—of books—would help him relax." Twilight's words had a cadence to them, the rhythm of my massage modified her breathing and her speech.

"You did it wrong. You asked him to leave his castle." I waited for Twilight's attempt to reply before working on the knot of muscle between her wings. The repeated rubbing and working at the knot silenced her words and only let her speak in vowels.

Only when I let up could she reply. "You're right. I—I have to run so much."

"Then give him something that will only be his. He's a predator as much as a siren is, he wants to be a master of something."

Twilight's voice started then drew into a slow whine before continuing. "W-What are you master of?"

"Nothing, not even myself. Sirens are social within their groups. My master dictates what I can and can't do. He is master of me and my brothers, and he is master of Equestria—in a way." I paid extra attention to each wing, rubbing the tension out of flight muscles down each before returning to Twilight's shoulders. Neither of us spoke during that part of the massage.

"Equestria is mine," Twilight said at last.

"Or are you Equestria's?" I asked back.

It never ceased to amaze me how I gained insights into ponies with this magic. The sound of her breathing and her heartbeat echoed in my ears as I worked up from her wings to her crest and poll. I worked down to her shoulders, then up to her back and down to her croup and was starting on her left thigh when I heard her take enough air to speak.

"Your magic is very subtle and you know how to use it to choose your words. You have me thinking in ways I never have before, and still I feel your magic picking up on this. Have you stopped reading me yet?"

"No. I won't stop unless you ask me to or until I am done." When her leg twitched and stretched out backward, leaving her lying on her belly, I couldn't help but smile and start work on the offered limb. "I know he used this magic on me, once, to find what I wanted. He must have known then I'd be joining him. When was the last time you truly relaxed with another pony?" Information for information.

I got all the way down to her pastern before she replied. "Like this? Not since I became a princess. The Ponyville Spa."

Reaching forward, I tapped her right thigh and she extended the leg obligingly. "I didn't mean exactly like this. You don't have any lovers? Nopony to warm your bed and wait for you to be done as servant to the mighty Equestrian kingdom?" As I started on her right rear leg, I leaned forward and kissed the base of her croup—where her dock met her body.

A shiver ran all the way from her dock to her shoulders and came back toward me at a gallop. I met it with my lips and then leaned back again to continue my massage.

"There's no time for lovers, not when I have to run Equestria." Twilight waited a few more minutes until I was almost going to prompt her with another kiss. "You're offering." It wasn't a question.

"If that's what you need. Do you need a stallion right now, or do you need somepony to help you relax enough to see what you need to?" I gave her another kiss anyway, but there was no wave this time. Instead, Twilight's rump shifted slightly.

Up until now I'd gotten the smells of a mare as she relaxes and shows a little interest in a nearby male, but now a new scent hit my nose. I froze for a moment as I tried to process it. It wasn't Spike's strong draconic musk. It was male and equine. "Twilight?"

"Hrmm?"

"You're not just a mare, are you?"

She stiffened and shifted her hips again, and again I got a hint of maleness. "What?"

"Like it not, Twilight, I'm a predator. This body is adapting to how sirens of the past would hunt ponies, and part of that is being able to smell them. I can smell you, Twilight, and that scent is—unique." I leaned down to her dock, then a little lower, and inhaled. Male, female, excited… it was a delicious blend. "Roll over."

"You said you wouldn't use more magic on—"

"I'm not, Princess. Roll over." I leaned back, sacrificing the heady aroma for the chance to watch her shift and show me what was happening. She didn't, of course.

"I didn't know it would happen. It's why I can't—why I don't have anypony." Still she wouldn't roll over. When I touched her left flank with my hoof, gently stroking her cutie mark, she let out a defeated sigh and shifted.

Though the pressure I put on her was little, she moved as if I were using all my might. First she shifted her wight to the right, then further, and finally she lifted her left leg off the floor and revealed what had happened.

"You're a true hermaphrodite?" I asked.

"Where did you learn—?" Twilight bit back her question, but I liked showing off now—it was part of me.

"I learned a word like that reading books written by princesses who love knowledge so much they wouldn't let even the humblest of snails be forgotten." Memories floated through my head, Winter Wrap-Ups, mostly. "You weren't always like this."

"You looked at me?" Her surprise overpowered her confusion.

"You were a pretty mare who was trying her best to help. It was admirable. I think even Applejack was looking."

"Princess Celestia told me. It was, ironically, just after I became an alicorn. The big change was my wings—that was visible. The coming of my earth pony stoicism was later, as was this. An alicorn must represent all of Equestria—earth ponies, unicorns, and pegasi… mares and stallions." I couldn't see her eyes, but Twilight's cheeks were flush.

"And you haven't been intimate with anypony since?" Wheels clicked into place as my magic led me to another need of Twilight Sparkle, Princess of Equestria.

She didn't answer.

"Do I need to make a game out of this? Perhaps exchange knowledge for knowledge?" I took hold of one back leg and stretched it to full extension. Holding her hoof steady with my wings, I began to work my hooves over the stiff muscles.

She looked up at me with a confused and disappointing expression. When I raised an eyebrow at her, she let out a sigh. "I thought—I mean, you were being so forward, and you're a—" Now I realized what it was.

"Frustrated? You wanted me to do more than just massage?" I asked.

As soon as she nodded I reached one hoof down and started to massage her balls. Her look of startled surprise—mixed with excitement—made me smile.

With one side of her leg free of my touch, I nuzzled down from her hoof to the inside of her thigh. "I was being polite. I could be less polite. My brothers and master have trained me in how to be less polite in ways that would make you howl like a timberwolf."

"Y-You're going to make me ask you or give you permission, aren't you?"

I didn't care if I looked like a predator right then. She knew what I was and had faced what amounted to my kin before. Hungry, I smiled and gave a nod. "I don't know if I could pleasure everything you have on offer at the same time, but I could try. It's up to you." I gave her balls a more ambitious squeeze—nothing that would be painful, but she'd surely feel that I had intent behind my actions.

"Wait. Slow down."

At her command I drew my hoof away from her balls and my cheek from her thigh. "Something the matter?"

"Rules. We need—need rules." Twilight's breath came fast and deep, like she wasn't getting enough air. Was it really that intense for her? If so, this was going to be a blast.

"First then, what do you want out of me?" My slow massage of her leg continued.

She didn't seem inclined to reply until I swapped legs. "I want to feel—Anything. Anything you feel I need."

"And if I think you need to be fed from, to feel what I am capable of in the first person?" I kissed the bottom of her hoof—which twitched and her foot curled.

"S-So long as it won't hurt me or impair my duties." A shiver ran along her spine—I could feel it through her leg. She opened her mouth to say something else.

I was here to give her what she wanted, and as far as I could tell… "Liar. You want one of those."

Blush, but more than just her cheeks going red was my instincts telling me I'd hit a nail right on the head. She shook her head. When she stopped moving her head, she opened her mouth to say something, then stopped and closed it again.

"Tell me what you'd like to happen, and I'll tell you if I think it's safe. This will have no bearing on whatever we do." Pressing my tongue to the frog of her hoof, I licked and stroked along the sensitive flesh there.

"What they—"

When Twilight cut herself short to moan, I realized I might have been going a little far with the hoof worship. I backed off to just nuzzles.

"When they took control away from me and made me fight my friends, there was…" She didn't seem willing to continue, so I nibbled at her hoof just a little. "D-Do you really enjoy doing that?"

I set my chin against her hoof and smiled. "Making you squirm, worshiping your hoof, or nibbling at you in ways you have never been nibbled at before?"

"Worshiping?"

"An act of selfless love. Showing you that every part of your body is amazing. I could probably get you worked up enough to climax just with one of your legs." I drank in her expression of shock—my inner predator (that was far more outer right now) stirred at a hint of what could be adoration in the air. "But that's changing the topic. You liked something the Dazzlings did to you?"

The tiniest of nods, but it was enough to break a dam. "They pushed thoughts and ideas into my head that weren't mine. I couldn't—couldn't think of anything but those. They made me think about things and—and they made me want things."

"That's not nice to do," I said, "without getting someone's explicit permission first."

"Huh?"

"I am not a master of siren magic, Twilight, but my master has instructed me in ways to accomplish things. What those Dazzlings did was foal-stuff." I pressed my nose firmly to her hoof and inhaled the rich aromas. Dirt, my own saliva, a little musk, and a hint of perfume came to me. "Would you like me to make you want something for just a moment?"

"J-Just a moment? Like just… just a few seconds? You can do that?" Hope. Excitement. Lust. Arousal. Lots of very positive emotions boiled up in her, but so too did shame. "It's wrong—"

"No. It's wrong to do it against somepony against their will. It's wrong when you hurt somepony with it."

"Just for a second."

"Just. One. Second." I pushed my siren magic into her. It was a simple task—with her protective wards down—and made her want/need/desire just one thing.

My power burned in Twilight's eyes for the moments it took the magic to wear off, then she began giggling. "Ice cream? Really?"

"What did you expect me to do?" I asked with a huge grin on my face.

"Sex! I thought you'd make me want to—to fuck you!" Twilight, on her back, broke into a fit of giggles and cycled her forelegs in the air. "Now I just want ice cream really bad. Is it still working?"

"No. You're hungry."

"Of course I'm hungry. Somepony just made me crave ice cream!" She kept giggling, but stilled when I took back up nuzzling and licking her hoof. "Y-You can make me want you, just for tonight."

"That's a lot to tell a siren, Twilight. This magic is only the start. I could make you addicted to feeding me, and a lot of other siren groups would." Okay, so maybe I had a bit of a hoof thing, but what a set of hooves! A princess!

"Do it, then, but only for one night. And, if anything happens, and you know what I mean, then end it. Or are you afraid of doing that to me? You won't break me. I could put up a shield to block your magic and—"

"But you wouldn't if I tell you not to." I brought her back legs together so I could nuzzle both hooves between words. "Very well, I will make you do all kinds of things tonight, but we tell somepony first."

"What?! Why would we do—Oh. So you don't get in trouble if somepony stumbles in here while we're doing, while I'm doing, stuff. Uh, who?" Twilight's mind raced so fast I couldn't keep up sometimes, but it was pleasing when she didn't need to have things explained.

"One of your close friends. Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy…" Ticking names off was surprisingly easy. They were all mares who knew the truth. "Dinky too. Especially Dinky."

Shock and surprise in heavy measure poured from Twilight. "Y-You had sex with all of them?"

"No. They all know what I am. Dinky doesn't trust me, which is why I suggested her most of all. Call me crazy, but it's good to know somepony who is willing to fight you for the good of ponies. I know exactly where I stand with her."

Twilight looked concerned for a moment, then grinned. "But the easiest to find will be Pinkie. All I need to do is think of breaking a Pinkie promise and…"

"Foreve—"

"Gotcha!" Twilight used her magic to levitate Pinkie out from behind the bookcase she'd appeared from. "Pinkie?"

"Hey! You said you were going to break a Pinkie promise? Why are yo—Ohhh. OH!" Pinkie Pie's grin spread wider and wider while she floated in the air. "I told you he was nice!"

"Pinkie! It's not—Okay, it is what you're thinking. He wants to make sure somepony knows what particular thing we're going to do so if anypony gets crazy notions again, there's somepony to set them straight. I'm too damn horny to wait for anypony else." Twilight blew a snort out her nose that would have almost made her fierce if she wasn't laying on her back still.

When Twilight's bubble of magic that held her popped, Pinkie dropped to the floor without so much of a hint that it had inconvenienced her. "Well, what is it?"

I'd been alternating hooves I was nuzzling, but had to pause while I spoke. "She wants me to use magic on her."

"What's it do?" Pinkie Pie asked.

"The correct question is: what will she want?. And the answer is: whatever I want her to." I Licked each of her hooves just once. "She wants to give me control for the evening, and I was worried what somepony might think if they come in in the middle of it."

"Oh! Oh! Like ice cream?"

Twilight froze up. "How did you know he made me want ice cream?"

"Pfft! Silly, of course he would. Ice cream is the best thing in the world to want. Or was that cookie dough?" Tapping her chin, Pinkie shook her head. "Cookie dough flavored ice cream!"

"Pinkie!"

"Twilight, relax. I'll even wait downstairs until you're done, then sleep over. I'll have to rush and get Gummy first, but I don't think I'll be needed for the time that takes. Oh! Can you make me want ice cream?"

I snorted. "Pinkie Pie, you want ice cream."

"You didn't use any magic," Twilight said.

"Like I need to—And, there she goes." Only a dustcloud-shaped-like-Pinkie was left behind, and a moment later that too was gone. "Now, where were we?" I let my smile return and started to gather magic.

"Y-You're going to—"

I didn't let her finish. Power flowed from my mind into her unprotected one. She didn't resist as my yellow gemstone let loose wisps of mist that poured around and through her. I stepped forward, standing over Twilight and staring down into her face. "You can feel my magic and my will?"

Twilight stared up at me and nodded. The gentle yellow glow in her eyes was unmistakable. There were several images and concepts I had planned for her, first and foremost was an extremely selfish one. "Adore me."

The air around her thickened with food. Her tongue started to loll out the corner of her mouth as so much of Twilight's free will circled weakly around the concept I'd just forced her to focus on. She looked up at me and her eyes sparkled with desire.

I couldn't keep a purr out of the low chuckle I made before I licked at her aura. It was like eating ice cream. I fed. I fed without reservation or desire to stop. I fed so deeply I thought I would have surely done any other pony harm, but a glance at Twilight revealed only more power—more magic and more adoration.

"I need you so much…" Her voice was soft and weak. "Please?"

"Please what?" I asked.

"Please do whatever you want."

Leaning down I pressed my lips to hers and felt her enthusiastic kiss. It wasn't much different from the Want-It Need-It spell that had affected me many years ago, except in this situation somepony was in complete control. I was in complete control.

Lust. I filled her head with a desire for gratification and to gratify. I flooded her fertile mind with images of all the things I could think that a pony with her equipment and one with mine could get up to. I did all that while forcing my weight down onto her until our bellies—and shafts—were sandwiched together.

I didn't wait for her to ask. The look in her eyes confirmed that she wasn't just under my control, she knew she was. Drawing back slowly, I thrust myself along her length and belly, rubbing our shafts together and forcing our balls to press tight.

Twilight's head was back and she was panting so hard I thought she was going to start hyperventilating. My magic fed on her, and she seemed only too happy to let me. The sex was good, but it was the metaphysical situation that me so focused on my task.

I barely noticed the first loud crash outside Twilight's personal library, but the second finally impinged on my senses and startled me.

"Oh no, Mr. Fishy, you can't go in there and interrupt my friends!" The muffled voice of Pinkie Pie managed to sound both deadly serious and giggly. Another crash. Another giggle. "Oh no, none of those mind whats-its. They don't work so good on me."

The next crash was against the door, then another, and the third saw the door give way and Feather Bangs rush into the room. "What have you done?!"

There was a lot of things I could do and a lot I wanted to. I wanted to keep pleasuring Twilight, I wanted to make my mast happy again, and I wanted to say exactly the right thing to calm him down. But I was too slow.

Twilight was charged with furious energy. My own magic had been purged from her in a heartbeat by her power, and she somehow got out from under me without any effort and put herself between Feather and myself. "How dare you?!"

It wasn't often I saw my master completely off balance, but that's the only way I could describe his look of fading indignation and anger. "W-What?"

"You storm in here and interrupt me—interrupt us!" The moment of realization, when Twilight finally clued into the fact she was shouting at a full-grown siren, hit home, and I got to watch every emotion she possessed play over her face. "You're a siren!"

Feather Bangs focused his stare on me, and I felt his will start to reassert itself over the situation while Twilight fumbled for her next words. "Sure Beat! What is the meaning of all this? I felt you draining an alicorn! Every siren on this half of the world would have felt that."

I blinked in surprise. It's true that I fed well from Twilight, but it surely couldn't have been that much. She was still practically a bright sun of power and had blown her way out of the simple mind control I'd used without so much as a lick of trouble. I turned my attention inward and examined my own reservoir of magic. "Oh horse apples…"

Looking between Twilight and me, Feather's stare turned to surprise, and finally he laughed. "Sure Beat, my little fish, there's a reason sirens keep to the shallow ends of Equestria. For one, an alicorn of Princess Twilight's power can shatter our fragile mind magics with the slightest of flexing. Second is that it chums the water, so to speak. Sirens can sense weakness in creatures and a nation. I hope you drank well, little fish, because we're going to have work to do."

"Hold up. Don't talk past me. What you're saying is that by feeding him so much—not that it felt like much, err, considering what I have that is—it makes it seem like Equestria's weak and under attack?" Twilight looked surprised, worried, and still a little flushed from what we'd been doing. "S-So I need to call the E.U.P. Guard to order to patrol more. I can also call in the hippocampi…"

"No. Simply not needed." Feather Bangs flickered with his own magic flashing out of his gem to make him his pony-self. "Of course we'll deal with this problem ourselves. We've never relied on ponies to defend our feeding grounds before, and I would be a poor siren if I didn't now."

Twilight looked surprised. "So the reason you were so angry that you broke in here was…?"

"To blast you with as much magic as I could and grab my little fish to safety. It seems I have gravely underestimated his talents." The look Feather gave me now spoke of a long talk that would happen when there were no ponies around. "Perhaps I can suggest that in future you both stick to just sex?"

"No." I hadn't realized I'd said it until Feather looked at me with a brow raised. "I mean, maybe, but there's something else we can do. Twilight, you trust me?" When she turned around and looked at me with a smile before nodding, I felt my heart swell. "Then let Feather feed from you. If your magic can do this to me, imagine what it would do to a full siren?"

"You trust him that much?" Twilight asked.

I nodded. "He has protected Equestria for over a thousand years. Perhaps a regular top-up might be a good way to show your thanks and help him ensure it stays protected against more sirens?"

Feather stared between me and Twilight, shock registering at last that we wouldn't have to make a quick exit from Ponyville. "It would never work. Princess Twilight would need to trust me with two things: the protection of Equestria and her own mind."

"No she doesn't. The first you were already doing. What she has to do is trust you with ponies, and I think she's halfway there already. As for feeding, couldn't I channel for you?" I asked.

Twilight looked at me then Feather, then back to me. "Would that work? You can act like a conduit?"

One glance at Feather Bangs revealed the excitement in his eyes. He grinned like a young stallion having his first time with somepony more experienced. "Your Highness," he said, "you wouldn't believe some of the tricks I've taught this stallion."

Union

This time we weren't in the library. Twilight lay on her bed and I stalked toward her with my magic free and flowing around me like a cloak. However much energy my tryst with Twilight had given me, it flowed easily and didn't hesitate to spread out and let me feel the room.

Twilight's energy was like standing next to the sun. She throbbed with the power of friendship and an alicorn who'd stood on the throne for many years now. "Will you be able to do it again?"

I sniffed at her with my power and physically. To both she smelled good. "Yes. Lay down on the bed—on your belly."

"Make me."

It was a challenge, plain and simple. Twilight was big enough and powerful enough that my instincts told me she was capable of fighting me. My power flowed out around me like a cape and poured down my body—it stole more of my pony shape than ever before. I was long and sinuous, my back legs were gone, but I still had some pony shape about me. Not as big as Feather—not by a long shot—I could still feel Twilight's power pouring through me and calling for more.

Snarling, I lunged at her had to dodge her horn. A fight. She wanted a fight—I purred. A fight I could do. As I circled around her slowly, I sent my magic out toward her. At first it was rebuffed with flicks of her own magic, but I had one trick she might not know.

Taking a little of her undigested magic, I wrapped it around what amounted to a hook. I cast it out casually and in the midst of other attempts to snare her mind. Her magic flicked and deflected my other attacks, but the part of her clung to her own magic and pulled the hook deep into her.

"Princess Twilight Sparkle, Ruler of Equestria," I said as I plucked the link between us, "want me."

Had I really gotten past her defenses with that little trick? Whether or not she'd let me do it, I had a direct line into her physical desires and I strummed that string again. "Want me, need me."

"Y-You wouldn't dare—" Twilight said, her voice sounding like she struggled to say even that.

I played with that magic thread yet again. "Want me. Need me." As I said each word with emphasis, Twilight's body flinched as if struck. "Want me, pet. Need me, to rule you."

Feeding would have been simple now. She couldn't fight her own physical desires, nor could she stop me using them to worm my thoughts into her head. Twilight closed her eyes and shook her head like she could dispell my magic with the simple gesture, but all fighting did was tangle her up more in her own need. "I—I…"

"What, pet?" My voice was deep and full of promise and purring. "What does my little pet want?"

"Y-You."

"And what does my little pet need?"

Twilight's eyes widened and I saw my magic swirling around in their depths. She opened her mouth but seemed to struggle to say the words.

"Tell me, pet. What do you need more than your freedom?"

"I need you. I want you. I…" She choked a gasp.

"Tell me and I'll give you everything you want and need."

"I need you to rule me." Twilight slumped to the bed as if she were a marionette with all her strings cut. Her breathing seemed uneven and ragged. "I want to be your pet. I need you to rule me."

She looked completely and utterly bespelled—just like last time. And last time she had broken my spells like paper rope the moment she needed to. She wasn't in control right now, but she could definitely tell me it was time to stop. The thoughts fluttered through my mind quick as lightning. I watched as Twilight lowered her head to the bed and slowly rolled onto her back.

Leaning down, I circled my tail around and above her in the air while pressing my lips down to her throat. "My pet." My breath tickled through her fur and I could hear a gasp leap from her chest to her mouth. "You know what a siren does with their pets?"

She bit her lip and shook her head slowly. Damn but it was the most amazing thing to see her do this willingly. The power—dominant, not siren—that I felt from the interactions had my blood pumping and fed the predator within me.

"We breed them. We get little sirens upon our pets and have them raise our young. Are you ready to serve your purpose, pet?" As I spoke, I trailed my lips up and down her throat, letting my breath play over her neck from just under her jaw to her breast.

This close to her, I could feel the beat of her heart pumping blood and the rush of her lungs moving air in her chest. It was a symphony of sound and sensation that told me more about her state than words could. Her mouth opened and closed several times, but in the end she squirmed in place and let out a long, throaty moan before saying, "Yes, master."

"Good girl." Straightening myself out, I had a sudden worry about how big I might be now. Was I too big? Would I hurt her? I had to trust her to tell me. Adjusting myself over her, I felt my arousal build and grow hard under me only by where it pressed against Twilight's soft belly. "Relax yourself, pet, it's time to fulfill your purpose."

Sliding my body down hers, I lined myself up at her entrance and pushed inside. Her passage was slippery and big enough that I shouldn't have worried. The sounds of excitement she made as I pushed deeper only sparked me on. "Look at me."

She couldn't ignore the command. Twilight's eyes snapped open and locked with my own, and as I ground all the way into her, she stared up at me with wide-eyed surprise. While I held still, she looked to be panting and trying to get her breath. "S-Sure Beat?"

"Twilight?"

"I'm strong. You can be rough with me." My shock must have registered on my face because she laughed. "You're not a monster at all. Use your magic without reservation and put me in my place." She nuzzled up against my neck and ran her teeth over the scales there. "Break me in, Sure."

She hadn't displaced the hook of magic I had in her—time to see how much further I could put her under. Twitching that strand again, I pulled back and started my rhythm. With each thrust I tickled her mind with my magic. Rewarding her for pleasure as we performed the ancient dance, I focused on her emotions.

There was only a small trickle of adoration, but each time it grew I rewarded her further. Each thrust and each blast of adoration only made her squirm and moan more. When she stretched her wings out, I reached aside with one hoof and pinned her right one to the bed.

Twilight's head snapped over to look at what I'd done to her wing, and I heard her moan just a little louder on the next thrust. And the next. Bringing more magic to bear, I wrapped her forelegs up in it and pushed them down to her chest, then used my other foreleg to pin her second wing down.

She struggled now, bucked and squirmed under me, but after no more than four more thrusts she surrendered and got back into the rhythm I'd set. This was forceful now. I had her pinned to the bed and she couldn't struggle her way free. One look at her eyes told me I'd done everything she wanted.

"Pet—when I—cum—you cum." My words came between my rapid thrusts. Everything was speeding up and I was burning magic faster and faster to keep her restrained. Things deep in my body started to tighten and my tail coiled around one of her back legs. The extra grip made it easier to drive hard into her as my pleasure reached its peak.

As I started to lose all control, the beast inside me surfaced and found its perfect prey underneath us. Twilight looked up into its eyes and I saw her own shock register a moment before she threw her head back into the bedding.

Squealing, she humped up against me and fought against my grip, but now was the exact moment that I would feed—and feed I did.

A blast of pure white light surrounded Twilight and then almost as quickly as it swelled around her, it poured into me. My body twisted and shook, grew and held her even tighter, but there was an ultimate target for the lion's share of this power.

Even as my orgasm stole my ability to reason, I shunted the magic off to Feather Bangs.

He was my master and savior. He'd rescued me from a life of self-inflicted denial, and now it was time for me to show him how much it meant to me that he had.

Just being a conduit for so much raw power meant I caught a lot of it, but there was so much more than I could deal with, and that's why Feather Bangs swam through the air to my side. He didn't touch Twilight, he didn't even attempt to feed off her directly, but his contact with me made giving him power so much easier.

Twilight moved. She barely twitched her wings to knock my forelegs off them, she stretched her hooves and broke those bonds, she shoved me sideways against Feather and rolled atop me. Somehow, even more power and adoration poured from her and through me, but she didn't look at me.

"Feather Bangs, I can feel your spirit. I can feel how much you love ponies—though in a different way to how I do. Protect my little ponies with this power. Take it freely and love." She turned back to look at me, and the single beam of white magic turned into a rainbow of light.

I lost consciousness just as that beam hit me.

In my dreams I was a huge siren. I swam at Feather's side and slew the enemies of ponies. We were unstoppable. Not even Rock and Grunge—somehow twice our size—could stop us. But as happens to all the best dreams, this one ended.

My head was swimming, but something odder was how warm and safe I felt. I opened my eyes to find I was currently nuzzled against Feather's neck. Okay, so sometimes waking up from a great dream meant you found yourself even more comfortable. Smiling, I nuzzled my long snout against him and flicked my tail so that it lay over his.

My very long tail.

"I'm going to have to stop calling you little fish, Sure Beat. I don't think a siren has ever fed this well before in their life." A lot of Feather Bangs moved. He shifted his tail and body in what seemed like a stretch, then wrapped both his forelegs around me and squeezed me to him. Finally, he angled his head down and kissed the bridge of my nose. "Reach for your magic, Sure, but don't draw on it."

I wondered what he meant as I reached for my magic and had to stop reaching very suddenly. It had felt like the leading edge of a tsunami must feel to clams. "W-What hap—?" My memory caught up with me.

Twilight Sparkle. Feather bangs. Everything coming together and a single moment of her gifting us power.

"I believe I might be in lust, Sure Beat. I wouldn't call it love—since I love everypony—but I could lay with that mare every second of every day for a hundred years and never get tired of that. I don't think even lust does the feeling justice. I'm drawn to her like a moth to a flame." Feather coiled and rolled on the bed, his fins shredding the fine sheets and covers. "Where is she?"

"Given how much power she gave you, downstairs having more pancakes than should be able to exist." It was easy to remember Twilight's habits. We'd had breakfast together once or twice, but it had usually been because I'd passed out while reading something she'd recommended.

Feather rolled off the bed in a cloud of feathers. What seemed odd was neither of us had gotten that far up the bed. "Where did all the feathers come from?" I asked as I rolled off too.

"Not guilty. Nor are you. That was all Her Royal Highness' doing. Something smaller, Sure." Feather compacted his form down to the sleek and athletic stallion I'd first met.

Reshaping myself was easy, but I was much bigger than a pony now. It took several attempts before I figured my size out and shrank down to the stallion I walked around as every day. "There." It felt way stranger to make myself small again. I looked back at my body and started when Feather laughed. "What?"

"You're so cute. Checking out your own butt? I can promise you, Sure Beat, it is a very nice butt." He sounded playful and fresh. The lightest touch of my siren-sight revealed him to be a roaring inferno of energy. "Did you just peek at me?"

"Look at yourself."

"I don't need to look, I know I'm bursting with power."

I smirked at him and made a point of showing my teeth. "There's a difference between knowing and seeing. Somefish taught me that."

Feather strutted over to the mirror and I felt a prickle in the air—proof he was using his own siren powers. "By the sea…" He sounded breathless. When he turned back to me, he shook his head. "Well, you're not the same, but your aura is far more siren now, Sure Beat, than it was a day ago."

We finally managed to agree and head downstairs together. Was it so wrong to feel smitten by her? I'd always fantasized about being with Twilight, but it would have been one-sided. I'd been her physical match, sure, but now I felt much more a match for her magically. But I really wasn't. The way she'd shrugged off my magic had been a testament to her power being more than mine.

But that was all before she'd fed me. Could I control her fully now? Should I try?

The sound of talking surprised me as we walked down the great stairs. It was easy enough to follow the sound, but the implication of the voices I heard surprised me. Rainbow Dash's sharp and direct tone, Rarity's cultured accent, Pinkie Pie's giggly voice, and even Fluttershy's deep sound met my ears—as well as Twilight's voice interjecting here and there.

Taking the lead, Feather Bangs walked into the room occupied by five of Equestria's greatest heroes. As I entered the room, six sets of eyes locked on me.

"Yeah, yeah. I know when I don't want to hear something. You got enough pancakes, Twilight?" Spike asked.

Looking from the stack of nearly a dozen pancakes before her to Spike, Twilight was blushing when she nodded. "Princessly sufficient, thank you, Spike."

Almost the moment he was out the door all five sets of eyes locked on me again, but it was Feather who spoke first. "All of them?"

Five blushes as the mares looked at each other in surprise.

Kissing my cheek gently—soft as a lover—Feather Bangs let out a slow sigh. "No wonder you're bursting with energy today."

"You meant to say," Pinkie Pie said, poking her hoof in all her friends' directions, "that Big Mac—" The moment she said it, everypony in the room gasped in surprise. "Oh, come on! You all knew it!"

"Well…" Rarity tossed her mane. "I'm questioning more how he managed to find the time. How in Equestria did you charm all of us in, what, three days?"

"He gave me what I needed." Fluttershy's deep voice drew everyone's attention. "Since the Ponytones, I've always wanted to feel what it was like to be as big as that voice made me feel."

Rainbow was quick to move closer to Fluttershy, and I could see without any siren powers that they were saying things softly to each other.

I could have focused on hearing the two of them, but instead I just smiled. "You all had something you wanted another pony to share with you. I shared as much of myself as I could, even giving away"—I looked at Feather Bangs—"too much."

"You made the right choices, my fish. I can see why you trust these ponies." Feather's eyes were almost locked on Twilight. He seemed fixated on her like a moth to a flame.

"What I want to know is, what was up with that rainbow blast last night?" Rainbow Dash sat next to Fluttershy with one of her wings halfway around Fluttershy's back, while Fluttershy's huge yellow wing could almost have hidden Rainbow completely.

"That would be my fault." Feather Bangs stepped a little more into the room and then cast off his pony form. He didn't grow, but he did swim a few circles around me before making his way toward Twilight. When he reached her, I feared he might do something forward. Instead of anything I feared, Feather lowered his head and bowed to Twilight. "Your Highness, I trust you weren't too worn out?"

"Twilight!" Rarity's shock didn't seem completely made up, but I could see a smile trying to force its way past her perfect features. "Also, sir, I don't believe we've been introduced?"

This bit was technically my job. Dropping my form as well, I swam forward and cleared my throat. "Rarity, Pinkie, this is Feather Bangs—my master. Feather, this is Rarity and Pinkie Pie. I believe you've met Rainbow and Fluttershy." The last bit was pure farce—I knew they'd met.

"My apologies, Your Highness, but I believe I should make myself known to your friends." Feather was laying it on thick, and a blush on Twilight's cheeks said she recognized it too, but was enjoying it. At least I think she was. I could activate my siren-sight and check, but that would be bad manners. As soon as Twilight nodded, he swam around to Pinkie Pie and reached out one of his forehooves to take her hoof. "Miss Pinkamena Dianne Pie, the honor is all mine."

Pinkie's giggle as Feather kissed her hoof was infectious, and though it didn't make me outright laugh, I smiled a little wider without even realizing it. I swam over to where Twilight was trying to eat her pancakes and coiled myself up beside her. "Thank you."

"Sure Beat, you don't have to thank me, but it is welcome. Even taking out the magical stuff, I had a lot of fun last night." She didn't sound like the timid librarian and newly-crowned Princess I'd known before I left. Nor did her kissing me on the cheek seem like something that mare of old would have done.

I blushed. How could I not? For all the sexual situations I'd been involved in, I'd never been as connected to anypony as much as I'd connected with Twilight before I'd left Ponyville. "And with the magic stuff? The—the stuff I did…"

"Was a lot of fun."

It was. I certainly couldn't deny that. "You could have broken it any time."

"Sometimes, Sure, it is fun to not be the princess. To have somepony treat me as just another pony. And, admittedly, my tastes run a little exotic, but you were gentle and caring, and I never once felt truly scared of what you might do."

"I have a lot more power now. You changed me." I gestured with a hoof toward all my extended body. A quick glance revealed Feather talking to both Rarity and Pinkie, and I had to wonder if he was trying to get together with both, either, or get them together.

"You wanted to change."

"I did. Thank you." That's when I noticed Rainbow and Fluttershy watching us. Watching us and whispering. Well, siren hearing didn't need me to use any magic.

"… cute together." Fluttershy's deep voice was hard to track, but to the senses of a predator it was easier to hear than as a pony.

"You're listening to them, aren't you?" Twilight asked softly. "What are they saying?"

"Fluttershy thinks we're cute. I missed whatever Rainbow said because there was a beautiful princess talking to me." I flicked my lashes at Twilight.

"Sure Beat, are you trying to charm me?"

Now I flexed my power. I wound it around Twilight and squeezed down on her just enough to remind her of my abilities. Her eyes widened just a little before she smiled a little wider.

"You are trying to charm me. It's a lot stronger than last time." The raw anticipation in her voice almost had me ready to drag her off to her bedroom again. Or maybe she'd drag me off. I wasn't picky. "But not at the breakfast table—I'm still working on recovering after last night."

Worry hit me like a brick. A cold shiver ran down my spine and I felt immediate concern that I'd hurt her. "A-Are you alright? Did I hurt you?"

"Sure, I didn't mean you hurt me. A mare can only take so much before she needs a little break. It has nothing to do with your magic or what you are, just that you're male and I'm female and what happened was very vigorous." She blushed more and more as she spoke, but there was a sense that she needed to say the words. When she reached up and kissed my cheek, her blush drained away. "Vigorous and fun."

"Princess Twilight? I hope you don't mind but—There's two of them here now?!" Dinky's voice from the doorway, yelling, broke-up all the conversations. Everyone turned to look at her.

"Don't mention a word to her about last night," Twilight whispered. She then cleared her throat. "We were just discussing a treaty between Feather here, his family of sirens, and Equestria—weren't we, girls?"

"Oh! Oh yes." Rarity was the quickest to catch on. "Hammering things out as it were. Feather here was just explaining how he will be assisting in the defense of Equestria. Weren't you, darling?"

"Just getting to the ins and outs of it, yes. Oh! Where are my manners?" Feather swam over to Dinky, and he politely ignored the way she took a step back. "Feather Bangs, at your service." He bowed and dipped his head.

There was a spark of confusion before Dinky replied. She dipped her head and offered her hoof. I'd had enough lessons in eloquence from Feather to know that this was training of a sort. "Th-Thank you. It's a pleasure to meet you." She gasped when feather carefully took her hoof and kissed it.

"May I have the pleasure of your name?" Feather let his breath play over her hoof, knowing Dinky would feel it.

"D-Dinky Hooves. Please, forgive my ignorance, but do you have a preferred method of address?"

"That is a question many mares wish they'd had the courage to ask me. Please, just call me Feather. I take it you know of my kind?"

Twilight coughed lightly. It was enough that my attention was pulled back to her, which I think was her intent. "Is he going to seduce her? I'm not sure I'm completely comfortable with that."

"You trust that he won't use his powers to directly manipulate her, right?" I asked. When Twilight nodded, I continued. "Then trust that he will leave the task of being seduced to Dinky. I think it would do her good to—ahem—broaden her horizons."

She sighed and shook her head. "She's an adult. She knows exactly what Feather is and what a siren can do. If she lets herself be seduced, she knows what she's in for." Whether Twilight was trying to convince me or herself was the only thing I was unsure of.

"You knew what I was, and you knew what a siren could do," I said. "And yet—"

"I stand by my words, Sure Beat. I can't claim I know everything Princess Celestia went through over the years, but every day that passes makes me see a little more of why she became what she became."

Watching as Feather invited Dinky into the room to rejoin the conversation with Twilight's friends, I started to get curious. "She's going to be your successor?"

Twilight sighed. "She could be. She's smart enough to be. I don't know if she has enough empathy. I asked Celestia just a few years ago how she knew I was the one. She told me she didn't know. She always seemed so sure of herself, but there was so much she just trusted to fate."

"I can promise you two things. If she finds herself in the bed of a siren, one of us, she will have the experience of a lifetime, and even if we drink a little, she will not be harmed."

"Like myself? I don't know about you, Sure Beat, but I intend to live a long lifetime. Please, make sure you announce yourselves whenever you see me."

"My dears," Feather Bangs' voice was raised to address everyone in the room, "you really must excuse us. We have a long day ahead of us. Fluttershy, please keep my offer in mind—it will always be open to you. Rarity, the next time I'm coming through her I promise to spend enough time to approach you in a more professional sense. Rainbow, look after Fluttershy. Miss Pie… I have no idea where to even start, but I Pinkie Promise I'll be back one day to kiss you again. Dinky, don't trust a single siren who doesn't swear loyalty to myself—you are a strong and wise mare, please look out for Princess Twilight." He finally turned—swimming in the air—to face Twilight. "Your Highness, never have I felt as welcome as you have made me. Equestria's future is in firm hooves. With your leave, I'm sure we'll be seeing you again soon.

"Sure Beat, let's try to round up your brothers before they shimmy their way into every bed in town." It wasn't an order. There was no weight of command on me to follow what he said.

Bowing my head as if to a ruler, I swam after him. "Goodbye everypony. I'll see you again—soon, hopefully." I followed Feather out the door and, when he resumed his normal pony form, I did likewise.

When we'd left the castle, Feather's stride turned into a strut. "I can't wait to see how your brothers react to your changes." He turned his head to look at me and I could have melted at the smoldering, hungry expression he wore. "If I were to guess, you traveled about forty years further down your path to sirendom. How does it feel?"

"Knowing that my new family is stronger and my old friends are happy is more important, but it feels good—really good. Princess Twilight was amazing." It was still hard to connect the town librarian Twilight Sparkle with Princess Twilight, but still being welcome in her library helped.

Feather barked a laugh. He seemed much more vital and pony than normal. "Sure, you have a talent for understatement. For last night I would almost have sworn fealty to her in the ways of old. Such generosity and power is uncommon in a leader."

Our wagon was not where we'd left it. "Where are they?" I asked.

"What do you think? I thought I was swimming to my death to face down the mightiest alicorn in Equestria. I told them to scatter and meet up at Ghastly Gorge." Feather leaned over and kissed my cheek. "At least we don't have to go all the way to Neighagra Falls."

As we walked through town, there was a lot of ponies with very happy expressions and vaguely distracted looks in their eyes. "Your brothers fed well here, though I don't think a single one fed as well as either of us." Feather's eyes, I saw, took in everything.

"I'm sure Twilight will understand. Maybe we could make sure to swing by again soon and say sorry?" My eyes drifted to a pair of mares sitting on a swing together, gazing into each other's eyes with absolute devotion and a raw feel of satiation. "Or maybe not. Nopony seems upset."

With a mutual laugh we broke into a canter until the town was out of sight behind us, which was when we both—at the same moment—shed our pony forms and shot into the air. I could fly as a pegasus, of course, but this was something new and special.

Darting in and out of the trees, chasing each other and laughing each time we got close, I couldn't remember a time when I'd seen Feather so free and happy. When we spotted the wagon beside the train tracks at Ghastly Gorge, Feather swam up beside me and held out a hoof. "We don't want to make them jump, Sure, so let's just take this easy and swim up to them."

"And you don't think that will make them jump?" I asked.

"Maybe a little, but they'll know my scales, little fish." Feather booped me on the nose and swam along the road and toward the railway line.

Gathering up whatever confidence I could, I followed him and kept a little behind and to the side of Feather. As we got closer, I could make out Stereo Mix sitting at the back of the wagon. He raised a hoof in our direction and shouted something that my enhanced hearing picked out as being a wordless, panicked noise. "So much for not making them jump."

Glamour Trot and Smooth Vibes came around the wagon from each side to look back at us, and both gaped as we got closer.

"You felt it?" Feather asked as we got close enough to talk. "You felt what our little fish did?"

"How?" Glamour trotted over and then around me. "How did our little fish get so big? I felt the second blast of magic, it was like the entirety of Equestria poured magic into that castle. The first shook the aether for everything within 10,000 leagues. I don't think a magic creature in this world missed that second one."

Feather laughed. "Firstly, my fish, we are safe. Safer than a siren has been in a thousand yea—No. Safer than a siren has ever been. We are recognized by Princess Twilight of Equestria herself as being defenders. While our fishy attributes will not be passed on to her soldiery, they will be aware that we are agents to support them."

"That's the funniest joke you've ever told. I know it's a joke because it sounds insane." Smooth took a few steps back from Feather, though he couldn't get far enough to avoid our master if he got angry.

Feather swam a quick loop and laughed as he did it. "I know! It's madness! When I dove into the castle to do battle with the princess in the hope I could grab up our little fish, I expected to have a bitter fight on my fins at best, and at worst have to give up my life to get him out of there.

"Instead I found him in flagrante delicto." Feather had my brothers enthralled. His every word and pause had them eager for more. "And things got more curious from there. Slightly embarrassed at my attempted rescue of Sure from a place he definitely needed no rescue from, we got to talking.

"It turns out that Princess Twilight is far more tolerable of a friendly group of fish swimming in her shoals than I would have given her forebears credit for."

Glamour Trot tilted his head to the side. "She—She actually gave you permission to live in Equestria?"

"Sure Beat, I believe the rest of the story is yours to tell." Feather gave me a smoldering look that was almost an open invitation to do all sorts of naughty things with him. "Tell them as much or as little as you wish."

"The short answer is, Princess Twilight allowed us to feed on her. She let us take so much—she let me take so much. I fed it on to Feather, but letting that much adoration flow through me left its mark." I squirmed into a tight circle and flicked my long tail to get out of it again. "She let us feed to capacity—and then some—and we shared her bed for a night."

Three jealous sets of eyes stared at me. Glamour, being the closest to becoming a full siren himself, was the first to recover again. "And what does this mean?"

"We don't have to live in fear. We don't have to struggle and scrape before moving on so we don't cause a fuss. Though, we do have to be a little more careful. Those bursts of magic are likely to stir up our kin. They will probe at first to see if it was a sign Equestria has grown weak." Feather swam quickly around us in a circle before stopping to kiss my cheek. "But we will be there. Princess Twilight trusted me with such power as no siren I have ever met has possessed, and I don't intend to let her trust be misplaced.

"So come, my fish, let us make haste to Vanhoover. I will be the helplessness feeders will be the first to probe. They are the closest school to Equestria, after all." Feather compacted his body back to that of a pony and dropped lightly to his hooves. "And we have some more training to do. Sure Beat, I think you have all noticed, had a little boost beyond his former self and now has to learn how to use his new-found might."

I focused on my form and shrank down to normal pony size first, then folded my siren self down until I was a pegasus again. Ruffling my wings a little to get used to my form, I trotted in a few circles to get my legs back in check. I paused with my rump toward the group, loosed my wings at my side and leaned over to preen—my eyes settling on my brothers.

"I call dibs on training him." Glamour Trot started walking toward me, and for a moment I thought the others might fight him but he was the older of the three. "You just wait until we get to the next town—this will be so much fun."

Years had come and go since the pact was made between Feather Bangs and Princess Twilight. Whenever our energy was running low, our journey would inexorably swing toward Canterlot. The huge city on top of a mountain was the pinnacle of Equestria, but it was only by our efforts that the rest of the country was safe for ponies to walk.

As we walked into the city, Smooth Vibes pulling the wagon, the whole city seemed to buzz with excitement. Before I knew it I was prancing a little, my wings a little loose at my sides. Some pegasi saw it as a sign of weakness to let their wings hang a little, but I liked the way it showed off more of my feathers. "It wasn't an easy year," I said.

"You are too used to being plump on power, my little fish." Feather strode in the lead, guiding us toward the campground set aside for wandering ponies—right beside the E.U.P. Guard training grounds.

Glamour, never far from my side, had been distracted with my prancing stride. He liked to watch me move and I liked to be watched. It made us a good combination. "He was with us for plenty of years before the pact, master."

Stepping closer, I kissed Glamour's cheek. "He knows that. He's poking fun at me."

"It's still hard to get used to this new Feather Bangs," Glamour said. "You're a lot less intense now that we have a reliable food source to fall back on."

Feather paused just short of the camping ground. "You have known me the longest, my big fish, and yet even you didn't know a time when we could swim so freely and enjoy life."

A clattering of hooves approached which earned all our attention. Looking, it was a lone Guardpony—a pegasus stallion who looked almost as slim as myself. We waited for him to halt, not wanting to appear the aggressive predators we were.

The stallion snapped a salute. "Sirs! Princess Twilight Sparkle wants to see you as soon as you can make it." He looked to expect something. "I can escort you there."

Feather gestured to us to gather around him, even Smooth chocked the wagon and came over. "Urgent, from my darling princess' lips, is worth every second of our time. Come, my fish, duty calls." He turned to the pegasus. "You know what we are?"

The pony went white as a sheet—despite his soft blue coat. "Sh-She said you were—"

"Good enough. Escort us, and fly as fast as you can." Feather was the first to change. He stretched out and grew into his full size. He was immense. Towering over the shocked pony, Feather pointed toward the castle with one hoof. "Fly."

Letting my pony form fade and fall away was as easy as breathing. I jumped into the air after Feather with Glamour beside me and I knew Smooth and Stereo were following us. We shot into the air above Canterlot and sped like arrows toward the castle with a lone pegasus escorting us.

Truth be told, I expected us to be stopped, but the closer we got, the more Guardponies flew up to flank us. The truly worrying thing was when the Royal Guard saluted and let us fly overhead without challenge.

Twilight Sparkle, princess and ruler of Equestria, was waiting for us in the garden with a pony laying on a makeshift bed beside her. My eyes narrowed down and the yellow coat and pink mane sent a chill through me. As we came down in the courtyard, I could see that the pegasus mare laying on the bed was old. Granny Smith had seemed young by comparison to the waif-like elder laying there. "Fluttershy?"

"She arrived a week ago." Twilight stepped back to give us room. "She said you would be here soon and that she was ready. She only barely there." She looked panicked and terrified.

"I need power." Feather Bangs had never sounded so serious. "Princess, I need you to give me power for this to work." He didn't give up his siren form as he settled down beside the bed.

In the years since the truce, Twilight still wouldn't trust Feather to feed directly. She didn't adore him, but… "Twilight?" I asked. It was all I needed to do. Her attention shifted to me and I felt a mountain of adoration warring with her worry.

"Please. Take all you need."

I coiled my magic around her and inhaled power couched in adoration. She still felt it after all these years, and it never ceased to amaze me that she could give so much. I had, thankfully, become far better at passing the magic on without letting it affect me. Much as I wanted to become a siren fully, doing so in one day would alienate me from my brothers.

Splitting my attention between Twilight and Feather, I passed off the power to him as quickly as Twilight fed it to me.

"Fluttershy?" Feather's voice carried magic and words both. He leaned over the bed and the old mare laying upon it. "Fluttershy, listen to my voice. You have a choice to make, and only you can make it. I'm going to share my own vitality with you."

Gasping, Fluttershy lifted her head and looked around with eyes that looked almost too dull to see. "F-Feather? Sure? What happened? I was waiting for you and—" Her eyes widened. "I'm dying." She didn't sound scared so much as surprised.

"That's why I'm here. Do you remember the promise I made?" Feather looked half-dead himself. I had never seen him use his power in this way. "Make your choice quickly, I cannot sustain your life for long."

"You made it. Everypony I've loved and all my forest friends have passed on, Feather. There's no reason for me to be a pony anymore." She seemed ready to lay back down. With so much magic pouring through me, I was hypersensitive to the fact that her heart wasn't beating. She was being kept alive only by Feather's will and power. "You still want an old mare like me?"

"Of course." The strain in Feather's voice brought tears to my eyes. He sounded as tired as Fluttershy did.

"Then, if you can, I'd like to join you."

Finally, Feather released the magic he'd been letting build up. He held Fluttershy's life in her body still, and now coiled siren magic into her. With my senses I could perceive how he did it. Feather kept feeding his own life energy to her while he forced magic to change her body.

Glamour Trot moved in on the opposite side of Fluttershy and held her as she began to grow. The first and most obvious change, at least as I felt, was when her body started to work again. Her heart began beating and she started breathing deeper. She didn't grow a small gemstone, like I had. Fluttershy was being fed so much magic that it outed in the most spectacularly sized gem I'd ever seen. Huge and yellow, it pulsed in time with the magic we were feeding her. Just as fins started to form, Feather cut off the magic and drank from the hose as it were. After several moments of that, he waved at me to stop.

I uncoiled myself from Twilight. I hadn't even realized I'd wrapped my tail around her and clung there, but now that I stopped feeding from her, I realized how intimate we might look together.

But, before I could uncoil fully, I felt Twilight stumble. I caught her with my forelegs and held her upright against my side. "Are you alright, Twilight?"

"Twilight?" Fluttershy's voice was weak, but I noticed a hint of steel in it.

"Fluttershy?" Twilight moved toward the bed without my support. She stepped in between Feather and Glamour as if they were no more a threat than her own guards.

"Twilight, I'm sorry for making you worry, but I didn't want to be a bother." Realization dawned that Fluttershy was going to be just as much herself as a siren as she was as a pony. "I caused a fuss, didn't I?"

With Fluttershy and Twilight talking, I rushed to Feather and crowded in beside him. "Master, if you need something from me, it's yours." I bared myself to him on every level.

"Shh. Silly little fish. This is nothing that you need to help with. The princess was generous with her power." Feather reached out only with his forehoof to brush at my fins. When he repeated it, I leaned into the attention gratefully. "But it is appreciated. You are mature enough, you and Glamour, that you could leave if you wished. Together you would be able to swim your own waters."

"That wouldn't be Equestria, though, right?" I asked.

"A hundred years ago I would have told you no. I possibly would have chased you out to see for even thinking of lurking here." Far from chasing me off, he kept stroking my fins gently. "I have grown soft, Sure Beat. I am a well-fed siren—a lap dog—and I don't know if I have it in me to bark at my own family anymore."

"'Lap dog?'" I actually laughed. "You fought off five sirens at Las Pegasus while we were struggling to keep their thralls from harming themselves. Five. At the very least you are a well-fed attack dog, if not a tame wolf."

"Tame wolf. I like that." Feather chuckled. "Five. Five little fish swimming with me. I've never raised a daughter before. I wonder if she wouldn't rather be a stallion?" He sounded relaxed and contemplative.

"Ask her. She spent some time as a stallion, remember. She has experienced both sides of this dilemma." I noticed something from the corner of my eye, but didn't want to turn my head away from Feather's caress. "I think Twilight's guards are getting a little antsy with all the predators gathered around her."

"Antsy?" The voice was familiar and sent a shiver of ice down my spine. "Antsy? There's a flock of sirens in the castle grounds, and they're only antsy?"

I knew who it was even before I turned to see him. "Discord."

"Big McIntosh, whatever have you done with yourself? Here, let me fix things." As he raised his paw in the air, the bottom fell out of my world. He started to bring his finger and thumb together, and a part of me screamed in terror.

"Discord!" Fluttershy's voice was as vigorous and sharp as I'd ever heard it. She walked on four hooves still, but there was a significant amount of siren in her now—as she approached Discord. "Don't. You. Dare!"

"Oh, but Fluttershy! I don't—Wait. You're not Fluttershy anymore." Discord lowered his paw and pointed at her. "You're just another monster now. No longer the sweet, innocent Fluttershy pony I knew when—"

"Is that all I was to you? After all those years? I was just a pony?" I'd seen Fluttershy angry before, I'd even seen her furious before, but this was new. There was fire behind her words—there was a predator in there that gave her a new level of fury. "Sometimes, Discord, I wonder if I ever knew you at all. You're calling me a monster because I'm not a pony now? What about you, Discord? Were you never my friend because you're a monster?"

"Well I mean—That is to say—I—" Discord, like many creatures before him, was undone by angry Fluttershy. Part of me hoped I'd never have to face that fierce determination myself while the rest of me struggled to come up with ways to make her happy again so she wouldn't be angry at me. Discord fell back a few ponylengths from her, giving ground before her assault. "There's just something special about being a pony. You're so full of bright energy and excitement. That's—that's missing from monsters like me."

Fluttershy's anger just seemed to melt away. One moment she'd looked like she'd pounce on Discord and bite him, now she wore a serene smile. "Discord, how many years and how many afternoon teas did we share?"

"I—" Discord shook his head. "You're not the same Fluttershy. I've never seen Fluttershy get that angry at—"

"Plenty of times. Do you forget that time with Tree Hugger? The time you brought back King Sombra and freed Tirek and Cozy Glow? The day you broke my house in half because you saw a spider?" Reading off the litany, Fluttershy took step after step toward Discord. She lifted up a hoof and poked at him. "When you decided that Rainbow Dash needed to be put in her place?" There was ice in her tone that stung just to hear, but there was also Fluttershy's compassion. "And so many more. You only don't remember me being this angry because—as I got older—I couldn't be this angry without hurting myself. I'm as vital now as when we first met, and that means I can be—I can be really peeved again!"

"Not to butt in, but you seem to be under the assumption that monsters can't be good ponies at heart." Given the nature of the situation, it had been completely naive to think the princess of friendship wouldn't step in. Twilight literally stepped between Fluttershy and Discord.

At Discord's confused expression, Twilight went on. "Princess Luna was the first pony to teach me that. She was the first monster I'd had to fight, but deep inside what her envy had made of her was a pony—a very good pony.

"Thorax, too, had seemed like a monster, but he had so much goodness within him that I can't call him anything but a pony at heart. Starlight Glimmer had let herself be twisted by her fear. Stygian allowed darkness and shadow to guide him. Even the spirit of chaos himself turned out to have the heart of a pony within.

"Then, nearly eighty years ago, I met a group of sirens who had been protecting Equestria for as many years as Princess Celestia had. One among them who thought himself so monstrous as to face down myself just to save one of his children.

"Discord, being a pony isn't about your shape but how you feel. You, even so upset at Fluttershy's choice, tried to fix things in the only way you knew how." Twilight looked up into Discord's stunned eyes and I swear in that moment she had him. "You aren't wrong to follow your heart, Discord, but you need to keep your mind open at the same time."

I hadn't personally seen Discord in one of these moments. It was the most I've really screwed up I've ever seen him look. "Oh dear. I—I've been a party-pooper again, haven't I?"

Fluttershy stepped around Twilight and walked closer to Discord. "You know why B—Sure Beat is so different, right?" When Discord shook his head, Fluttershy reached a wing up and toward him. "He didn't like what he was. It was entirely his decision to change. What you almost did…"

Discord's head turned toward me and I could now see worry in his eyes. We'd enjoyed some good times together, mostly while playing games of O&O. "What was wrong with—well, with Big McIntosh?" He looked genuinely confused. "You liked playing the big hero in Ogres and Oubliettes."

Sighing, mostly because he seemed to legitimately not understand (but also because I was trying to work out how to phrase it), I swam in a quick circle. "I liked playing the big hero, Discord, but what I liked to play for fun wasn't what I wanted to be. I'm me now. This is who I have always wanted to be in the flesh."

"Surely you didn't want to be a siren all your life?" he asked.

"Well, no." I compacted and changed myself, squeezing smaller and becoming my pegasus self again. Everything seemed so much bigger than me like this. I felt sexy and slim and ready to move. "This is what I always wanted. Being a siren means I get to do that. I get to be the me I've always wanted to be—even if sometimes I need to be big still."

"I don't do well working out what ponies want. It's a failing I've had my entire life, though I used to just ignore whatever it was I thought they wanted anyway." Discord seemed to shrink—no, he was actually shrinking. He stopped when he was probably small enough to ride on my back without causing a fuss. "I need to work on that."

"You've got time, Discord." Twilight reached out with her magic and levitated the midget draconequus up and into the air before her. "And I can help."

With a flash Discord was back to his usual size. "You'd do that for moi? After everything I—"

A normal pony wouldn't have been able to reach high enough of have the required leg-length to hug Discord, but Twilight was hardly a normal pony. She squeezed Discord until he let out a sigh. "Yes. Not despite everything you've done, but because of it."

Fluttershy didn't go with them as Twilight led Discord away. She watched them go, yes, but she stayed out in the garden with the rest of us. "I'm sorry you had to go through that."

"Hey, don't worry about it." I walked over to Fluttershy and stretched a wing out to brush down her side. This had the effect of her eyes widening in surprise. "We were just setting up over in the campgrounds. Do you want to help?"

"But I—" Looking down to her breast and seeing the gem, Fluttershy looked back over herself and I saw her eyes linger on her new fins.

Still carrying a little extra charge after being a conduit for Twilight's power, I reached out and wrapped Fluttershy in an illusion of her old pony self. "You'll get used to doing that yourself. Come and meet your new family."

"Family?" Fluttershy sounded surprised. "Y-You mean—?"

"It's not exactly like a pony family, but at the same time we're closer. It's—I shouldn't try to explain it. If one of our brothers wants to make you feel good, though, let him. They're all really talented." I tested my illusion spell with my wing. I could feel where the magic tried to tell me I was touching, but knew that there was more to her than I was feeling.

"'Feel good'? Oh, you mean…"

"Here she is." Feather Bangs was waiting for us to return to the group. "Good job on the illusion, Sure Beat. Let's shimmy into something more appropriate for Canterlot and leave the nice princess to recover." His plan, it was obvious, included Fluttershy. "After all, I think we might spend a few days here to teach our littlest fish how to swim."

To the Victor Go the Spoils

Author's Notes:

Time to Think

Author's Notes:

Back To Him

Author's Notes:

A New Path

Author's Notes:

Satiation

Author's Notes:

Change

Author's Notes:

Feast

Author's Notes:

Encroaching

Author's Notes:

Dominant

Author's Notes:

A Little Slip

Author's Notes:

Read Like a Book

Author's Notes:

Rode Hard, Put Away Wet

Author's Notes:

Bit By Bit

Author's Notes:

Thread By Thread

Author's Notes:

Discovery

Author's Notes:

Ingress

Author's Notes:

Enlightened To A Fault

Author's Notes:

Struggle Snuggle

Author's Notes:

Soft And Pink

Author's Notes:

Confrontation

Author's Notes:

Union

Author's Notes:

Mature Rated Fiction

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